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EDITED BY 

FREDERICK H. SYKES, Ph.D. 

LATE PRESIDENT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE FOR WOMEN 



THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE 
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 




William Shakespeare 

From the Droeshout portrait 



Gbe Scribncr JEngltsb Classics 



THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE 
THE COMEDY OF 

THE MERCHANT OF 
VENICE 

EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION 
BY 

FREDERICK HENRY SYKES, Ph.D. 



AND NOTES 

BY 



LIZETTE ANDREWS FISHER, Ph.D. 

RESEARCH ASSISTANT IN ENGLISH, 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 






Copyright, 1919, by 
Charles Scribner's Sons 



UbC 17 1919 



Norfoooti Press 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 

I.A55P197 



PREFATORY NOTES 



''pHE edition of The Merchant of Venice here presented 
*■ follows the plan of the Shakespeare plays that have 
already been issued in the Seribner English Classics. It 
aims to give in brief compass the working material needed by 
the careful student of the play. 

This material includes a trustworthy text. In the case of 
The Merchant of Venice this is offered by the Second Quarto 
edition, 1600, now established as the earliest edition of the 
play and the basis both of the pseudo First Quarto and the 
First Folio versions. The present text follows the Second 
Quarto, retaining the long lines that have been needlessly 
cut up in many editions. Spelling and punctuation are mod- 
ernized, and amended readings universally accepted are in- 
corporated. 

The main phases of the study of the play are suggested in 
the Introduction. The Merchant of Venice has implicit in 
it much material of culture history — the Venetian State, the 
Renaissance, relations of Christian and Jew, and the question 
of usury. The comprehension of the play and appreciation 
of civilization are increased if we can take on the environ- 
ment of the age in which it was written and to which it was 
primarily addressed. 

Still "the play's the thing." A drama has a form through 
which its human story is re-created. The student will add 
to his interest in the story by noting how and to what extent 
each scene and character contributes to the evolution of the 
plot. This is especially profitable with The Merchant of 
Venice, as it has dramatic values that have kept it on the 
stage, offering in all ages since its composition scope for the 
genius of the greatest actors. The characters themselves 
are significant, and their motives, sentiments, and actions 
are a constant elucidation of human nature. As the play 



vi THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 

drives on from its inherent forces, the appreciation of these 
is not only good dramatic study but a humanizing influence, 
which is Shakespeare's peculiar gift to the student. If the 
play, or parts of it, can be given dramatic presentation, the 
study of the play then takes on the vital life of the world of 
art for which Shakespeare designed it. 

The terms of drama used in this edition follow the defini- 
tions given in the Appendix to Julius Caesar in this series. 

The Notes are especially devoted to the elucidation of the 
text, the careful study of which not only conduces to the 
understanding of the play but yields a worth-while by- 
product of knowledge of Elizabethan diction, ideas, and social 
life. The work of the great editors has been carefully collated 
and whatever a fresh survey has yielded of appropriate ma- 
terial has been incorporated. 
Cambridge, Mass., September 27, 1917. 



II 

The death on October 13, 1917, of Dr. Frederick Henry 
Sykes, chief editor of the Scribner English Classics, is ac- 
countable for two names on the title page of this volume and 
for this second prefatory note. 

I was associated with Dr. Sykes in the preparation of Julius 
Ccesar and Macbeth for this series and, though without any 
expectation whatever of taking active part in that of The 
Merchant of Venice, I had discussed the play with him and 
had seen most of the Introduction in manuscript. 

When, therefore, the very sudden ending to this and many 
other activities came, it seemed fitting that I should complete 
the work by writing the notes, which Dr. Sykes had not 
touched. This I have done, in order that so interesting a 
piece of constructive criticism as the Introduction may be 
preserved among the all too scanty published records of a 
scholarship the range and finish of which were best known 
to those who had the opportunity of coming into close con- 
tact with it and of profiting by it. 



THE MERCHANT OF VENICE vii 

Among them I gratefully count myself, and, deeply as I 
feel the responsibility of the work of annotation, I am no 
less deeply conscious of grave satisfaction that I may so close 
many years of friendship and scholarly association. 

Lizette Andrews Fisher. 
New York, June 1, 1919. 



CONTENTS 

_ PAGE 

Frontispiece 

The Portrait of Shakespeare. From the painting in 
the Memorial Gallery in the Shakespeare Memorial 
Building, Stratford on Avon. Considered to be the 
original of the engraving by Martin Dreshout, front- 
ispiece to the First Folio Edition of Shakespeare, 
1623 

PREFATORY NOTES v 

BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY xi 

INTRODUCTION . xiii 

I. — The Environment of the Action, — Venice 
of the Renaissance, Christian and Jew, Money- 
lending ; II. — The Theme ; III. — The Struc- 
ture ; IV. — The Characters ; V. — The Scene ; 
VI. — Classification; VII. — Date of Composi- 
tion ; VIII. — Literary Material Incorporated ; 
IX. — First Printed Copies 

TEXT: "THE COMEDY OF THE MERCHANT 

OF VENICE " 1 

NOTES 97 

APPENDIX: SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS CHRON- 
OLOGICALLY ARRANGED 145 

INDEX TO NOTES 147 



BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Text: 

Quarto 2 . The Most Excellent Historie of the Merchant of 

Venice. 1600. 
Pseudo-Quarto 1 . The Excellent History of the Merchant 

of Venice. 1600. [1609]. 
Quarto 3 , 1637. Quarto 4 , 1652. 
Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Folio 1 , 

1623; Folio 2 , 1632; Folio 3 , 1664; Folio 5 , 1685. 

Folio 1 contains "The Merchant of Venice" on-pp. 163-184. 

Text Edited : 

The Plays of William Shakespeare. Edited by Edmond 
Malone. 10 vols. 1790. 

Contains the notes of earlier editors — Rowe, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, 
Warburton, Farmer, Johnson, Steevens. A revised edition was issued, 1803, 
by Isaac Reed. 

The Works of William Shakespeare. Edited by William 

Aldis Wright. "The Cambridge Shakespeare." 9 vols. 

2nd ed., 1891. 
Gives a modern critical text. 
The Works of William Shakespeare. Edited by William 

Aldis Wright and William George Clark. The "Globe" 

edition. 
Reprints in one volume the text of the Cambridge Shakespeare. Its line 
numbers are standard for reference. 

Text with Annotations : 

Malone. See above. 

Furness, H. H. A N?w Variorum Edition of Shake- 
speare. Vol. VII. The Merchant of Venice. 1892. 

Clark and Wright. Clarendon Press Series. 1877. 

Rolfe, W. J. 1895. 

Verity, A. W. The Pitt Press edition. 

Pooler, Charles Knox. The Arden Shakespeare. 1905. 
Sources of the Stories Incorporated in "The Merchant 
of Venice." 

See Introduction, VIII. 

History of Venice: 

Brown, Horatio. The Venetian Republic. The Temple 

Cyclopaedic Primers. 
Molmenti, Pompeo, Venice: Pt. I, Venice in the Middle 
Ages; Pt. II, Venice in the Golden Age; Pt. Ill, The 
Decadence of Venice. Translated by H. F. Brown. 



xii THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 

History of the Jews : 

Graetz, Heinrich. History of the Jews. 6 vols. 1891. 
Abrahams. Jewish Life in the Middle Ages. 

Shakespeare's Life : 

Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchardson. Outlines of the 

Life of Shakespeare. 
Brandes, William. William Shakespeare. 
Lee, Sidney. A Life of William Shakespeare. New ed. 

enlarged, 1915. 
Raleigh, Walter. Shakespeare. ("English Men of Letters " 

series.) 
Neilson and Thorndike. The Facts about Shakespeare. 

General Criticism : 

Coleridge. Essays and Lectures on Shakespeare. ("Every- 
man's Library.") 

Hazlitt. Characters of Shakespeare's Plays. ("Everyman's 
Library.") 

Gervinus. Commentaries on Shakespeare. Translated by 
Miss Burnett. With Introduction by Frederick J. Furni- 
vall. 

Dowden, Edward. Shakespere. ("Literature Primers" 
series.) 

Hudson, Henry M. Shakespeare : His Life, Art, and Char- 
acters. 

Structure of the Drama : 

Freytag, Gustav. The Technique of the Drama. Trans- 
lated by McEwan. 
Woodbridge, Elizabeth. The Drama, Its Law and Technique. 
Moulton, Richard. Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. 
Matthews, Brander. The Development of the Drama. 

Grammar : 

Abbott, Edwin Abbott. A Shakesperian Grammar. A new 
edition. 

Dictionaries : 

Schmidt, Alexander. Shakespeare-Lexicon. 3rd edition re- 
vised by Gregor Sarrazin. 2 vols. 1902. 

Murray, James. The Oxford English Dictionary. A New 
English Dictionary Founded on Historical Principles. 
(N. E. D.) 

Onions, C. T. A Shakespeare Glossary. Founded on the 
Oxford Dictionary. 

Concordance : 

Bartlett, John. A New and Complete Concordance to Shake- 
speare. 



INTRODUCTION 

I — ENVIRONMENT OF THE ACTION 
I — Venice of the Renaissance 

The incidents in the eventful history of The Merchant of 
Venice belong to Venice and to the second quarter of the 
sixteenth century. It was a romantic time and setting 
befitting a romantic story. 

The Renaissance. The period of human history known as 
the Renaissance was in Italy a great era in the development 
of humanity. The increasing wealth of Italy, the establish- 
ment of prosperous commonwealths and states, the resur- 
rection and absorption of the ancient literatures of Greece 
and Rome, freed and stirred men to realize a high and liberal 
civilization. The refinements of social life, the culture 
and ideals of humanity, beauty in life, in nature, in all works 
of brain or hand, were supremely valued and consciously 
sought. The Portia of our play is, for instance, a figure 
representative of the status, charm, and culture of noble- 
women in the Renaissance . 

Venice as an Empire. The Venice of our drama we must 
think of as both a city and an empire — a city of a hundred 
and fifty thousand people, but a world power by reason of 
her fleets, her commerce, and her dominion. The history of 
Venice was illustrious. A thousand years had seen the slow 
transformation of fisher villages on the mud banks and marshy 
islands of the Adriatic to a mercantile-marine state, whose 
sway, centring in Rialto, extended, before her, over the 
Adriatic, the iEgean, Crete, Cyprus, and, for a time, Con- 
stantinople ; and, behind her, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, 
Friuli, to the Alps. The Venetians had founded their empire 
on the exploitation of the trade of Western Europe with the 

xiii 



xiv MERCHANT OF VENICE 

Orient, for which, by reason of her geographical situation, 
Venice was the natural port. They maintained a monopoly 
of that trade by controlling, through conquest, settlement, 
and war-ships (sea-power), the trade routes to Constantinople 
and the Black Sea, to the Levant and India ; their merchant 
ships (argosies) were "scattered abroad "in every sea; their 
agents were in every great port ; and they kept access open 
to Venice from Europe by controlling the communication by 
river and road with northern Italy and the passes of the Alps. 

In government Venice was an oligarchy of hereditary aristo- 
crats. The form of government was that of a republic, but 
the mass of the Venetians were without franchise and were 
ineligible for public office. The men of the old prominent 
families constituted (1) the Great Council. (In 1340 there 
were 1212 members.) This was the body of electors, legislating 
on home and foreign affairs, controlling finance. It chose 
the electors of the (2) Doge (Venetian for Ital. duca, Lat. 
dux), who was the nominal head for life of the Republic and 
presided at all meetings of all councils. It chose (3) the Senate 
of sixty, subsequently one hundred and twenty, members, to 
direct great affairs of state policy, of peace and war. The 
six quarters of the city elected the six members of (4) the 
Lesser Council, who supervised all the acts of the Doge. 
The supreme judiciary was (5) the Council of Forty, who also 
had charge of the Mint and Arsenal. To these were added 
(6) the Council of Ten, for extraordinary criminal and politi- 
cal affairs, and (7) the College, or cabinet, made up of the 
seven executive heads of the state departments. It was a 
constitution that eliminated the tyranny of an hereditary 
prince and used in government the joint action of constituted 
groups of leading citizens. It was a constitution that " for 
its stability and efficiency became the admiration of every 
statesman of Europe." (Okey.) 

In Shakespeare's day Venice as a world power had ceased 
to exist. A long and wearing warfare with Genoa for the 
trade of the East ; a long-enduring and losing struggle with 
the growing empire of the Turk, with whom her Eastern trade 
routes brought her into disastrous conflict ; above all, the dis- 



INTRODUCTION xv 

covery of a new route to India by way of the Cape of Good 
Hope (1486 and 1497-8), which broke her trade monopoly 
in favor of the new commercial nations — Portuguese, Dutch, 
English ; the alignment of the powers of Europe, the Papal 
States, Spain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungry, against 
her land power in the League of Cambray ; — because of these 
things her power had declined. She lost trade and she lost 
dominion — Constantinople (1453) and Cyprus 1 (1571) to the 
Turk ; and was worn out with warfare. But her day waned 
with many splendors. She led in geographical knowledge 
and map-making, and, through the University of Padua 
which she controlled, in science (physics, anatomy, medicine) ; 
she was still the chief mart of Italy ; her ships were still prom- 
inent in the carrying trade; she had great revenues from 
customs, exchange, and her salt monopoly. Her wonder- 
ful prestige remained, the beauty and glamour of Venice 
" throned on her hundred isles." 

The City of Venice. As a city, Venice was the most roman- 
tic of cities of Europe. As early as 809 the Venetians had 
established their stronghold in the little group of islands called 
Rialto (rivo alto, high bank), in the lagoon of Venice. There 
they built, channelled, and fortified, with unique devotion 
to the state. There what came to be called the city of 
Venice arose, of unequalled splendor. The name Rialto 
still continued to signify the commercial quarter. There in 
the goodly colonnaded square the merchants most did con- 
gregate, meeting twice daily. At one end of the square 
was the hunchback figure (Ital. gobbo) of stone supporting 
the standing-place from which the laws of Venice were pro- 
claimed. Near by was San Giacomo, the oldest church in 
Venice. Near by, also, were the landing-places of the regular 
ferries to the mainland, to Chioggia and Padua. On the north 
side of Rialto the way passed over the great bridge (changed 
from wood to stone, 1588-1592) that spanned the Great 
Canal ; thence it led to the two chief architectural glories of 
Venice, the Ducal Palace and the Cathedral of St. Mark. 

Venice had risen like Aphrodite from the waves, and the 
mystery of ocean hung round her. Palaces adorned with the 



xvi MERCHANT OF VENICE 

richest Gothic detail or designed with the exuberant art of 
the Venetian Renaissance lined her canals. St. Mark's 
united Gothic and Byzantine genius and was an amethystine 
marvel of color. Gorgeous mosaics and fabrics of the East 
decorated her buildings. Their walls were adorned with the 
paintings of Giorgione, Titian, the Bellinis, Tintoretto, 
Veronese, Carpaccio. 

In the height of the Renaissance men turned to Venice for 
her grandiose architecture, for her most glorious group of 
painters, for the best printers (Aldus), whose editions of the 
classics spread through Europe, for her religious and civil 
liberty. Strangers found in Venice, " the revel of the world, 
the masque of Italy," a unique expression of the joy of life. 

Elizabethan Impressions of Venice. The Elizabethans 
knew Venice well, as a city rivalling their own London. Im- 
pressions of Venice were fully recorded in the literature of 
England accessible to the Elizabethans ; such as, William 
Thomas's History of Italy, 1549; Hakluyt's Principal 
Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation, 
1589, and, though the translation is later than our play, 
Lewkener's version (1599), with additions, of Contarini's 
Commonwealth and Government of Venice. To these must be 
added the impressions of travelled Englishmen, of English 
students in Italian universities, especially the university of 
Padua, references in contemporary drama and story, espe- 
cially such as were drawn from the Renaissance literature of 
Italy. From these it is possible to recover the point of view 
of the Elizabethans with respect to the famous city and to 
confirm the impression implicit in The Merchant of Venice. 

These records speak of Venice as Queen of the Sea; of 
her marvellous situation, built on piles, on the islands of the 
Adriatic ; a city full of people, rich in treasure and buildings, 
with two hundred palaces fit to lodge any king ; of her ocean- 
streets, the great canal and innumerable lesser channels, 
full of gondolas to pass up and down the city or serve as ferries 
(traghetti) across the canals, of her merchandise brought from 
all realms and countries, both by land and sea; of her cos- 
mopolitan character — the concourse of strange people, 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

drawn even from the remotest nations, as if Venice were a 
general market to the whole world ; of her empire over land 
and sea ; of her government, as a free commonwealth. Men 
spoke with wonder of the religious and civil liberty of Venice : 
" // thou be a Jew, or Turk, or believest in the devil — thou art 
free from all controlment. ... So (provided) thou offend 
no man privately, no man shall offend thee: which is one 
principal cause that draweth strangers thither." — T. Nash. 
Her spell was upon all. " To have swum in a gondola " 
was for Englishmen synonymous with travel (As You Like 
It, IV, i, 38) ; Spenser felt her glamour, apostrophizing her as 

" Fair Venice, flower of the world's last delight." 

As a scene for a play no setting could be more romantic or 
more fascinating. 

II — Christian and Jew 

Christendom and the Jews. The interpretation of The 
Merchant of Venice is conditioned not only by the Elizabethan 
point of view as respects Venice but also by the older attitude 
of Christendom towards the Jews. The play in many situa- 
tions records the antipathies of race, religion, and social status 
which are now happily extinct in most parts of the world. 

The essential business of the mediaeval Jews was money- 
lending — a trade long forbidden by the Christian Church 
to its own members. Their precarious status in Christendom 
naturally led them to hold property in a form easiest to carry 
or to hide — gold and jewels. Held together by the com- 
munity of race, religion, and language, the Jews dispersed 
throughout Europe had unconsciously constituted a system 
of international banking. Their prime occupation was 
created by the very restrictions put on their existence in 
Christendom : in Germany they could not hold land ; through- 
out Europe the crafts guilds were for the most part closed to 
them. This isolation due to a difference of race and religion 
told against them in law and social life, and the money- 
lender is never loved. The religious passions stirred up by 
the Crusades reacted against the Jews ; they had put Christ 



xviii MERCHANT OF VENICE 

to death and were getting the Christian's money. Their 
ceremonial of the Passover bred, in the mind of the mob, 
strange myths of ritual murder (the Hugh of Lincoln story, 
for example, c. 1400; see also the Prioress's Tale in Chaucer). 
All Christendom through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 
held the attitude to the Jews that to-day lingers only in some 
parts of Russia. Every nation shows a uniform record of 
persecution, extortion, massacre, expulsion. Nevertheless 
Jews lived on everywhere, but lived as a pariah race, outside 
the pale of law and even humanity, dependent on the favor 
of the mob, and, when protected at all, on the dangerous 
favor of the crown. By order of Innocent III (1198-1216) 
they were obliged to wear " the badge of all their tribe." 
On the Continent this was usually square or round, of saffron- 
yellow or some other color, on the hat or mantle. In England 
the badge was established by law (1222) as a woolen strip on 
the breast, of a different color to the dress, four fingers long 
and two broad (Graetz, History of the Jews, III, 527-531). 
Under Edward I the law required the badge to be yellow. 

Usually, too, the Jews had to live in assigned, restricted 
quarters, known as the Ghetto (Italian) or Jewry (English). 
From 1500 their residence in the Ghetto was mandatory 
under stringent church law. The Ghetto in Venice (the first 
dates from 1516) was on the site of the foundries of the 
arsenal, between the churches of San Geremia and San Giro- 
lamo, up the east bank of the Cannareggio. It was sur- 
rounded by a high wall. The Jews were shut in from sunset 
to sunrise, and also on certain feasts of the Christian calendar. 
(Molmenti, Venice, I, i, 195.) 

Throughout all, the Jews made it their rule to conform to 
the laws of the country in which they lived, and retained 
pure their home life, their blood, and their religion. In 
Spain and Portugal at one great period of freedom, they 
grew eminent in culture, scientific knowledge, and statesman- 
ship. 

The Jews in England. In England the Jews appear as 
the first money-lenders. The persecution of the Jews in 
England began as a part of the obsession of the Crusades. 



INTRODUCTION xix 

The custom of ill-treatment once established, it was continued 
— by needy kings who kept the Jews dependent on them as 
a handy prey, by people who could rid themselves of debt 
and imaginary terrors by pillage and massacre. The Jews 
were massacred under Richard I, plundered under John 
(see Scott's Ivanhoe), fined under Henry III ; their synagogues 
in London were destroyed by the Church (1285) ; under Ed- 
ward I the Jews were forbidden to lend money, hundreds 
were hanged, and the great mass, about fifteen thousand, 
banished (1290). A few contrived to remain or to return. 

About the time that The Merchant of Venice was written, 
it was said that " a store of Jews we have in England — a 
few in court ; many in the City (London), more in the coun- 
try-" (Quoted by S. Lee, Gentleman's Magazine, February, 
1880; in Furness, Var., 395.) The most famous Jew "in 
the court of Queen Elizabeth " was Roderigo Lopez, a Spanish 
Jew inheriting the scientific skill of his branch of the race, who 
was physician to Queen Elizabeth. Lopez was drawn into a 
Spanish plot against Antonio Perez, who aimed to establish 
himself on the throne of Portugal. This plot developed 
into another Spanish plot against Queen Elizabeth. The 
two plots were divulged; Lopez, threatened with the rack, 
confessed; he was tried for treason, and though probably 
innocent of real complicity in the conspiracy against Eliza- 
beth, was found guilty by the jury, and hanged at Tyburn, 
May, 1594. The Earl of Essex led the prosecution of Lopez ; 
the Earl of Southampton was Essex's friend and Shakespeare's 
patron. Shakespeare's knowledge of all these events and 
the popular excitement that attended them may be taken as 
assured. And The Merchant of Venice (Frederick Hawkins, 
Theatre, November, 1879) in the Trial Scene has echoes of 
this affair. 

Ill — The Question of Money-lending 

Money-lending. The Elizabethans came to a play like 
The Merchant of Venice with a strong traditional antipathy 
to the money-lender. The money-lender, because of the 



xx MERCHANT OF VENICE 

cruelty that so frequently characterized the type, had been 
held up to scorn by the poets from Hesiod down. In ancient 
Greece bankruptcy would be followed by the slavery of the 
debtor. In Rome the money-lenders brought about the de- 
struction of the free farmers of the state : Cato classed to- 
gether the murderer and the usurer. Dante found a place 
for usurers in the sixth circle of Inferno. The evils of money- 
lending were so well known to antiquity that the mediaeval 
Church, with the Jewish law as authority (Deuteronomy, xxiii, 
19 f.), prohibited the practice of it by canon law. In England 
the taking of interest was made illegal in 1235, though sub- 
sequent acts modified the law to permit the taking of interest 
but not of usury (excessive interest) . 

In spite of the teaching of the Church, the economic ad- 
vantage that attends the lending of money at interest was 
gradually recognized. Indeed the Lombards, including the 
Venetians, with their well-established independence in reli- 
gious affairs, held that Christians could be money-lenders. 
Hence the vogue of the arms of Lombardy as the pawnbroker's 
sign. English Christians gradually stood the odium and took 
interest, and under the guise of " damages " the law gradually 
supported them. The taking of interest was openly legalized 
in 1516, the maximum legal rate being ten per cent (J. 
Noorthouck), and this continued to be the maximum legal 
rate through the Elizabethan period. Bacon, who represents 
the transition to modern usage, takes the ground, in his essay 
on usury, that while men's hearts are bad there will be borrow- 
ing and lending for interest ; he advocated that there should 
be a general rate of five per cent, and that only those could 
exact a higher rate who were specially licensed. 

The opposition of the Christian Church throughout the 
Middle Ages gave the Jews a practical monopoly of money- 
lending. If Deuteronomy forbade usury to a " brother " it 
said nothing about lending to a Gentile. It was as money- 
lenders that the Jews incurred the hatred and persecution 
that mark their history in Christendom. Shylock embodies 
in a typical figure the popular conception of the Jewish money- 
lender. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 



II — THE THEME OF "THE MERCHANT OF 
VENICE" 

The Question of Money. The title The Merchant of 
Venice suggests a play that concerns itself in a significant 
way with wealth. And no other play of Shakespeare's refers 
to money with anything like the frequency that this play 
does. Property in an elementary form means " that which is 
mine own," the materials and tools possessed that make 
living possible. In a developed society both the materials of 
living and living itself become highly complex. The wealthy 
command the services of others in business and in household 
establishments; they possess the means of culture and the 
enjoyment of the arts. From the rights of property arise 
credit, borrowing and lending, bonds and penalties, testa- 
ments and dowries. Property is not only a chief goal of 
human effort but a prolific source of human conflict. An 
ever-increasing mass of law strives to define the rights of 
property and the obligations of contract. In such a field 
there is a mine of dramatic material. 

That the story of life presented in The Merchant of Venice 
touches in manifold ways the question of money is beyond 
doubt. The play opens with a picturesque vision of the 
wealth of the Venetian merchant, scattered in argosies on 
all routes of trade, yet a precarious wealth, exposed to all 
the vicissitudes of weather, navigation, piracy. The scene 
changes to a glimpse of the heiress of landed property, station, 
and culture, with the accompaniments of attendants, musi- 
cians, host of suitors. The scene changes again to the wealth 
of the Venetian money-lender — his loans, with the accom- 
paniments of interest, bonds, forfeits, bankruptcy, debtors' 
prison, courts of justice. A prodigal noble hopes to achieve 
love and money by marriage with a great heiress, but he must 
have money to prosecute his suit successfully. We see the 
merchant using his credit to borrow the money his noble 
kinsman needs from a Jewish money-lender, on dangerous 
terms, a three-months' bond, with the forfeit of a pound of 
flesh. So the plot is woven ; and so it continues — the caskets 



xxii MERCHANT OF VENICE 

of gold, silver, lead; the betrothal speech of Portia; the 
flight of Jessica with gold and jewels; the lamentations of 
Shy lock ; the arrest and trial of the delinquent debtor. 
Without doubt, property has its place in the texture of the 
play. 

The Theme of Love. The love motive is equally present 
— love in a broad sense — sex passion, family ties, friend- 
ship, social helpfulness, even love of money for itself, avarice, 
the root of all the evil force in the play. The story of Bas- 
sanio and Portia and the minor stories of Gratiano and Nerissa, 
Lorenzo and Jessica, Morocco, Arragon, have the love themes. 
The helpful actions of the play have their motive in love; 
the hurtful actions have their source in avarice thwarted, 
which turns to hatred and revenge. 

The two motives of money and love are constantly asso- 
ciated throughout the play, though no romanticist would 
admit that there is any inherent connection between the two. 
The lover needs money to express and attain his desire. The 
friend provides the money out of friendship ; Shylock pre- 
tends to lend it out of kindness. The lady with many wooers 
is an heiress; at a supreme moment she shows how love re- 
gards wealth in relation to the man who has " rightly loved." 
With one character wealth is a means to express love, with 
another it is an end in itself, so abused that home life becomes 
"hell," and man is changed to the semblance of a jungle 
beast. 

Life and Obligation. There is evidence of still another 
element in the fabric. Portia's story up to her marriage is 
conditioned by her father's testament; her life's happiness 
is put into jeopardy by the tremendous chances of the choice 
of the caskets. How does she take this obligation? Out 
of friendship Antonio puts his life into jeopardy by the terms 
of the bond he enters into with Shylock. And unwitting, 
Shylock brings his own life into jeopardy of the statute law 
of Venice by the use he makes of Antonio's bond. Without 
doubt the entanglements that life chiefly meets in the story 
of the play take the form of obligations — some are legal 
in aspect, some are obligations that noble souls feel from their 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

own nobility. And these obligations all involve more or 
less clearly the question of money. 

Obligation may be expressed formally, by " will, " " oath," 
"bond," "ring," "forfeiture," "letter," "act," "statute." 
But there is, as well, obligation that is without other con- 
straint than an inherent nobility of nature. Many things 
besides mercy are not strained — the bonds of family affec- 
tion, the devotion of love, the fealty of friendship, the call 
of human helpfulness, the compelling idea of mercy ; all 
aspiration, in short, of the finer spirit of life. At the outset 
of the play we hear the note " what I owe in money and in 
love." In the Trial Scene the letter of obligation wars 
against the spirit, the Ghetto against Belmont. If the play 
rings with the sound of ducats, it evolves also a deeper music, 
the harmony that is in immortal souls. 

Here is where we approach the dominant spirit of the play. 
Our play is a good story — interesting human characters 
entangled in a series of romantic incidents developing on 
to a satisfactory conclusion. But the various crises of the 
story have, we find, a certain unity of theme. The reactions 
of the persons of the story through the series of crises give us 
the ultimate material for the determination of the theme of 
the play. We see each character in succession tried by the 
touchstones of money and obligation — we see them reacting 
nobly or basely. The play is a spectacle of people brought 
into the struggle of life with others less noble, entangled, 
persevering, and ultimately emerging beautifully. 

The Merchant of Venice is not a play of race antagonism, 
though the chief character of the counteraction is a Jew. Shy- 
lock is in the play as a type of life, not of race, though race 
made him of necessity a hated money-lender. Shakespeare 
aims to portray the conduct of life in a complex, developed 
society. He presents the story so that the free virtues of 
the spirit — love, friendship, mercy, beauty, social obliga- 
tion — are asserted over self-seeking, avarice, enforced ob- j 
ligation. These free virtues of the human spirit are of the l 
essence of the Renaissance. In the conflict of conceptions 
of the aims of life in relation to money and obligation, Shake- 



xxiv MERCHANT OF VENICE 

speare here sides with the Renaissance. And he resolves the 
discords of the play, in the closing act, into life with higher 
human values realized in music, beauty, love, which are left 
supreme. In this sense The Merchant of Venice is a culture 
drama. 

Ill — THE STRUCTURE OF THE PLAY 

The Main Actions. The plot is woven of two main ac- 
tions and many subordinate ones. The main actions are a 
love comedy centring in the winning of Portia and a serious 
comedy of the revenge-intrigue type centring in Shylock. 
The link figure of the two actions is Antonio, from whom in 
consequence the play takes its name. These two actions 
are carried on with beautiful interrelation, supporting and 
intensifying the interest one of the other, from the exposition 
to the catastrophe. The Bassanio-Portia action, the prime 
scene of which is Belmont, offers a sort of background action, 
of moderate but prolonged dramatic interest, highly embel- 
lished in diction and sentiment. Against this background 
is enacted the briefer Antonio-Shylock story, the scene of 
which is Venice, which abounds in highly dramatic situations, 
clash of personalities and passions, quick reversals of fortune, 
ending in the great, if melodramatic, catastrophe of the 
Trial Scene. The two actions are bound together by the 
friendship of Antonio and Bassanio, which on the one hand 
occasions the bond and on the other enables Bassanio to win 
Portia; and this same friendship moves Portia won to save 
her husband's friend from the penalty of the bond by which 
he is jeopardized. Thus the Belmont Story starts the Bond 
Story, the Bond Story complicates the Belmont Story, and 
the Belmont Story brings about the resolution of the Bond 
Story. 

The Sub-plots. The sub-plots are many. Each of them 
has its own particular interest, but each contributes its part 
to the main theme and the main actions. The fortunes of 
Morocco and Arragon develop the climacteric suspense of 
the wooing of Portia. The Gratiano-Nerissa story lightly 
and gracefully parallels the main love comedy while it knits 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

the necessary subordinate characters into a plot interest. 
The Lorenzo-Jessica story is the chief sub-action of the first 
half of the play. It affords a masque scene enhancing an 
elopement, which is always interesting; it is a parallel 
casket story, too, and a link action between the Shylock and 
Portia groups. But its real purpose is to motivate Shylock's 
spirit of revenge ; for the loss of ducats and daughter fuses 
all hates in Shylock to white heat in a passion of revenge in 
the middle movement of the play, which makes credible 
the incredible story of the pound of flesh. The Launcelot 
story characterizes dramatically the miserliness and hard 
isolation of Shylock's life, and the clown's humor is the low 
note of the total gamut of comedy offered by the play. The 
sub-plot of the rings unites the middle and the end of the 
comedy action and resolves the last complication of the Trial 
Scene very gracefully, even if its method of " discovery " 
has been overworked. 

These double actions and these subsidiary plots are inter- 
woven by interrelations of the persons, by journeys, meetings, 
interchange of servants, letters. The total effect produced 
is a solid fabric, bold in design, romantic in color, full of 
repeated patterns, with exquisite variations and contrasts. 
So Shakespeare, like other artists of the Renaissance, loved 
to present the richness and variety of the web of life as he 
saw it. 

IV — THE CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY 

The characters of a play fall into groups the composition 
of which is determined by the actions to be represented. 
In The Merchant of Venice these groups are : the Merchant 
group of Antonio and his friends, who are a middle, or link 
group, to which the other groups are bound ; the Belmont 
group of Portia, her household and suitors ; the Ghetto group 
of Shylock and his set. 

The Merchant Group. Antonio is the grave patrician 
merchant in a nation of marine merchants. Unwearied in 
well-doing in behalf of friends and fellow-merchants, capable 
of deep affection well in accord with his passive temperament, 



xxvi MERCHANT OF VENICE 

proud of his world-wide trade, unselfish, upright, and hon- 
orable, he despises the predatory class of money-lenders, 
whose doings are in his eyes cruel, unchristian, and wicked, 
He is the pivotal figure of the play, on the one hand helping 
Bassanio to success and love, and on the other exposing him- 
self to the malignity of his enemy, Shylock, and steadfast 
in adversity. It is as the pivotal figure merely that Antonio 
gives his title to the play. Salarino and Salanio are a setting 
and " chorus " for Antonio. Nearest him in friendship 
stands his kinsman, Bassanio, the hero of the high-comedy 
action, — young, well-born, high-spirited, prodigal in living, 
a spendthrift out of generosity, a borrower of his kinsman's 
money out of love ; frank, simple-minded, honorable, bear- 
ing his plume and his heart high, having that in his nature 
which with time and marriage and the domestic ministra- 
tions of Portia will ripen to honorable repute. That Bassanio 
loves where money is, is a coincidence and must not be set 
to his discredit, though he is not of our modern world of work. 
Gratiano, a friend and companion, is a clever, amusing man- 
about-town, talkative, witty, light-hearted as he is light- 
headed, taking even marriage with a jest, but not without 
his two grains of wheat in his bushel of chaff. Lorenzo, 
another friend, is the romantic youth, poetic, loving beauty, 
passion, music, and moonlight : 

" What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to 
stop? " 

The Belmont Group. Foremost in the Belmont group 
stands Portia, the heroine of the high-comedy action, the 
ruling spirit of an idyllic social life. Portia is the spirit of 
the place, the genius of it all. She is the young gentle- 
woman endowed with all the fascination of mind and body 
and heart with which Shakespeare could endow woman — 
and he had a supply, the cynical think, beyond nature ; witty, 
yet wise, with the grave note of wisdom born of responsi- 
bilities early imposed, the cares of riches and the deceitful- 
ness of suitors ; active, fearless, romantic ; cultivated, yet 
not pedantic ; imaginative, yet mistress of practical affairs ; 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

fun-loving, adventurous, yet very much a lady; subtly 
observant of life, knowing men and the world, yet without 
losing her faith and her ardor; loving with absolute devo- 
tion and perfect self-surrender because of her faith in life 
and in love; and, with all her high station and the flattery 
that beats upon high station, tender of soul and humble of 
heart, yielding herself as wife in a wonderful marriage speech. 
Such a nature is an interpretation of life at its fairest, and 
when she touches evil she has powers of heart and intellect 
to resolve it into good. 

In Portia's household the most significant figure is Nerissa, 
who serves as confidante and sprightly echo of her mistress, 
following her mistress's fashion even into marriage. The 
suitors characterize themselves in the lottery of the caskets, 
and their characters determine their destiny. They are 
merely episodic, serving to build up the climax of Bassanio's 
success. 

The Ghetto Group. Shylock is represented in various 
phases of his life through the minor members of his group, — 
his daughter Jessica, his house servant Launcelot, and his 
associate in usury Tubal. The household life of Shylock is 
austere, miserly, loveless. For such a life Jessica, with her 
youth, charm, adventurousness, was ill suited. The spirit 
of the time found it lovable and praiseworthy of her to leave 
her father's house and religion, and even to overdo the ex- 
pression of her repudiation. Life justifies her in the main 
action of her love story, and Jessica offers a charming element 
of youthful romantic love in her new environment of masque, 
and music, and moonlight. Launcelot as servant to Shylock 
offers the view of the miser's home by comic reactions. There, 
and subsequently at Belmont, Launcelot fulfils his part, 
which is to weave an element of anti-masque in both the high 
comedy and the tragicomedy. 

Shylock is soon left, except for his compatriot Tubal, in hard 
and savage isolation. The interpretation of his character 
has been rendered difficult by social and psychological changes 
that have raised the status of the Jew and. the business of 
money-lending. Contrast the England of to-day, where as 



xxviii MERCHANT OE VENICE 

statesmen, judges, and bankers the Jews are among the fore- 
most figures. From The Jew of Malta of Marlowe to the 
Daniel Deronda of George Eliot the wheel has come full 
circle. There seems to us something primitive and childlike 
in the laughter that rose from an Elizabethan audience at 
the exhibition of the madman, the imbecile, or the strange 
pariah figure of Shylock. It is not the least among Shake- 
speare's achievements that he has understood the figure 
that could grow up in the bitter environment of exile and make 
it stand like a giant tree, wrenched, gnarled, and broken, 
in an austere and loveless landscape. 

The name of Shylock epitomizes the spirit of implacable 
exaction, yet the character is so created that his passions seem 
the human expression of his wrongs, and his qualities rise 
at times to such tragic greatness that his overthrow in the 
Trial Scene appears to some a travesty of justice. The 
character is individual. Implicit in it without doubt is a 
type character — the miser and usurer who is to be done out 
of his money ; but Shylock is not the mere miser, the Euclio 
of Plautus, the Matthieu of Jodelle, or the Harpagon of 
Moliere. He is a miser, no doubt; witness his aphorisms of 
selfishness, his arid home life, the ruin of his debtors ; but 
he is an individual of manifold qualities, of deep, varied, 
and passionate personality. That personality combines a 
mastery of commercial affairs with knowledge of the mer- 
chants of Venice and their ventures. There is a deliberation, 
and, in a sense, dignity, and, above all, strength and force 
of personality ; power to suffer, to endure, to wait. He- 
braism of a kind tinges the whole of him — his language and 
allusions smack of the Scriptures ; he recalls the money- 
changers of the Temple. There is an unpleasing gusto and 
volubility in his expression of greed or hate. He has humor 
and superb irony. Born in contumely and bred in derision, 
there has sprung up in his isolated and self-centred life neces- 
sarily something of the spirit of the jungle; his motives are 
all of the jungle. He has learned to prey and to hate and to 
plot — that is, within the bounds of the law, when he thinks 
himself safe. Ostracism in religion, in society, in business, 



INTRODUCTION xxix 

insult in personal relations, have produced in him an acrid 
bitterness of soul that blinds his vision to all higher values 
of life. The centring of his thought on money has made it 
the root of all evil to him. And the higher part of his nature, 
vestiges of which still remain in his memory, has atrophied 
in his environment and occupation. The great emotional 
strength of his nature floods into low channels of hate and 
revenge, when he is wronged or thwarted. Beside Marlowe's 
Barrabas in The Jew of Malta, Shylock is an intelligible 
humanized figure, an appealing study in sociology. Dramat- 
ically and psychologically, Shylock is the figure of supreme 
interest in the play, and he is the first figure in all Shake- 
speare's plays that can properly be ranked among his master- 
pieces of character creation. Shylock as a character of drama 
is one of the great roles of the accomplished actor. Complex- 
ity of mentality, variety and range of passion, vital vigor of 
action, unite in this figure to afford the opportunity for the 
vivid presentation of human nature, which is the business of 
drama. 

The figure of the usurer in Marlowe, Greene, Shakespeare, 
Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger, is the 
subject of a dissertation by Walter Reinicke, Der Wucherer 
im Aelteren Englischen Drama. Halle, 1907. 

V — THE SCENE OF THE PLAY 

The Twofold Scene. The double theme of the play is 
repeated in the double scene of the action. Shakespeare 
has here evolved, by virtue of his marvellous feeling for 
harmony, a high conception of the relation of action to scene 
and setting. Each part of the double action of the tragi- 
comedy has its peculiar setting, and all that happens is reen- 
forced by its appropriate tone and atmosphere. The Bond 
Story is enacted at Venice — the Venice of the merchant and 
money-lender — the scenes are the Rialto, the Ghetto, the 
debtor's prison, the Court of Justice; bonds and forfeits, 
wrongs and revenge, trials and judgments, — all the evils 
of life find their locale in Venice. The Casket Story is enacted 
at Belmont, and all the high comedy action centres there. 



xxx MERCHANT OF VENICE 

Belmont, the seat of Portia, is the expression of life when life 
is what it could be and our fortunes what, we think, they 
should be. To Belmont Bassanio goes to win love and 
fortune; in Belmont the wandering lovers, Lorenzo and 
Jessica, find a home; from Belmont comes salvation for 
Antonio; and in Belmont, finally, all true friends and true 
lovers gather, and the discords of life, amidst moonlight and 
music, are resolved into the fine union of according souls. 

VI — CLASSIFICATION 

The Merchant of Venice, because of the many stories woven 
into the action, is complex, or polymythic, in type. Because 
the total issue is fortunate, it is comedy, and because the most 
important part of the dramatic action is serious and passion- 
ate in its tone and matter, and almost tragic in its issue, the 
comedy is rightly characterized as serious comedy, or to use 
an older term, tragicomedy. Because the chief situation, 
incidents, and scenes appeal to the sense of wonder, uniting 
the elements of "strangeness and beauty," the play is in treat- 
ment romantic. 

The material of the play, it must be admitted, is not of 
the stuff of which the greatest dramas are made. The 
characters respond humanly to the incidents of the story but 
the story itself is highly improbable. Both Casket Story and 
Bond Story are of remote folk-lore origin, and belong to a 
primitive period of society and art. Their inherent improb- 
abilities are heightened by the modernization of the char- 
acters that figure in them. Only the romantic glamour that 
Shakespeare creates to suffuse them makes us yield " poetic 
credence " to such impossible fictions. Solutions, moreover, 
accomplished by chance, wit, and theatrical strokes rather 
than founded on character, are marks of secondary drama. 
The catastrophe of the foreground action and the disappear- 
ance of the chief dramatic character, Shy lock, from the stage, 
coming in the Fourth Act, precludes the cumulative effect 
in the Fifth Act with which Shakespeare usually crowns the 
action of his greatest plays. 



INTRODUCTION xxxi 

Yet The Merchant of Venice holds high and lasting place 
among all romantic comedies. The dramatic story full of 
incident, conflict, and suspense, the variety and charm of 
the persons of the drama, especially the dramatic possibilities 
of Shylock and Portia, the stage-craft that yields the Trial 
Scene, the best known scene in Shakespeare, the flow of rich 
comment on life expressed in perfect diction set with unfor- 
gettable phrases, the romantic glamour and beautiful vision 
of life in Belmont — these give enduring quality to this play. 

But unto us she hath a spell beyond 
Her name in story, and her long array 
Of mighty shadows, whose dim forms despond 
Above the dogeless city's vanish'd sway ; 
Ours is a trophy which will not decay 
With the Rialto ; Shylock and the Moor, 
And Pierre, cannot be swept or worn away, — 
The keystone of the arch ! though all were o'er, 
For us repeopled were the solitary shore. 

The beings of the mind are not of clay ; 

Essentially immortal, they create 

And multiply in us a brighter ray 

And more beloved existence : that which Fate 

Prohibits to dull life, in this our state 

Of mortal bondage, by these spirits supplied. 

First exiles, then replaces what we hate ; 

Watering the heart whose early flowers have died, 

And with a fresher growth replenishing the void. 

Childe Harold, IV, iv, v. 



VII — DATE OF COMPOSITION 

The Composition of the Play. The Merchant of Venice 
seems to have been first written and played towards the end 
of 1596. The play shows Marlowe's influence in the charac- 
terization of Shylock, the story of Jessica, and the descrip- 
tion of Antonio's wealth;- it has here and there echoes of 
other early dramatists, Kyd and Greene; rimed lines are 
frequent. All this means an early place in Shakespeare's 
work. But not too early a place ; for the copious thought 
and fine workmanship show Shakespeare rounding to the full ; 



xxxii MERCHANT OF VENICE 

the structure approaches Shakespeare's perfected method — 
witness the closing of the First Act, the clear-cut dual climax 
and dual turn of the Third Act ; these are not found in his 
plays prior to 1596. Yet the structure is still imperfect — 
witness the falling off of dramatic interest in the Fifth Act 
compared with the structure of the final version of Romeo 
and Juliet, 1597. Shakespeare drew, it has been pointed out, 
the arguments of the Trial Scene in part from Silvayn's 
Cent histoires Tragiques — possibly from the English trans- 
lation called The Orator, printed in 1596. Then, too, the 
Moonlight Scene (V, i) was imitated (Whalley) by another 
dramatist in Wily Beguiled, played (Fleay), July, 1597. 
Francis Meres, in his comment on Shakespeare's plays, in 
Palladis Tamia, printed in 1598, mentions The Merchant 
of Venice last in his list of Shakespeare's comedies. In that 
same year it was licensed for printing (although not printed 
until later), as recorded in the Stationers' Register. 

VIII — OLD LITERARY MATERIAL INCORPORATED 
IN THE PLAY 

Sources of the Plot. The plot of The Merchant of Venice 
is a composite of stories the crude materials of which came 
mainly from the mass of literary material available to every 
Elizabethan dramatist. The plot of the play is woven of 
three once independent stories — the Bond Story, the Lady 
of Belmont Story, and the Three Caskets Story. All were 
told ages before Shakespeare. The Bond, for instance, with 
its apparent helpfulness to the signer and its hidden implicit 
tragedy is frequent in folk-lore ; it is the basis of the Faust 
legend, of the legend of Macbeth and the witches, as well as 
of The Merchant of Venice. 

I. Main Source. The story of The Merchant of Venice, 
as Capell first pointed out, was told before Shakespeare by 
Ser Giovanni of Florence as the first story of the Fourth Day 
in his story collection called II Pecorone (printed 1558). 
This Italian story tells of three attempts made by a Floren- 
tine youth, the adopted son of a rich Venetian merchant, 



INTROD UCTION xxxiii 

to win the Lady of Belmont. (Belmont was " a fair port " 
and castle on the road from Venice to Alexandria.) Two 
attempts failed, and a ship was the forfeit for each failure; 
for the third attempt the foster-father lent not only all he 
had, but pledged a pound of his flesh for ten thousand crowns 
to " a Jew at Mestri." The third attempt succeeded, by 
the aid of the Lady's maid. The date of repayment came 
and passed, and the lover at Belmont remembered too late 
the obligation. The Jew had the foster-father seized, and 
claimed the execution of the bond. From this predicament 
he was rescued by the skill of the Lady of Belmont, disguised 
as a lawyer from Bologna, as told in the Trial Scene. The 
revelation of her clever service came to her husband through 
the ring which she claimed as her reward. The close relation 
of the play to the Italian novella is obvious. 

The story is given in translation by Collier, Shakespeare's 
Library, ii, pp. 65 ff. ; and by Furness, Var., pp. 298 ff. 

Shakespeare may have used, in addition to Ser Giovanni's 
novelette, an English play probably based on it — the lost 
play of The Jew, which was " shown at the Bull " (i.e., the 
Bull Inn, London). We know of the play through Stephen 
Gosson, who, in his School of Abuse (of the drama), 1579, 
speaks of The Jew as a play " without rebuke . . . repre- 
senting the greediness of worldly choosers and the bloody 
minds of usurers." This description suggests that the 
lost play had the Three Caskets Story (hence the Lady of 
Belmont) and the Bond Story (hence the Shylock character). 
The Jew continued to be played, no doubt, till Christopher 
Marlowe's Jew of Malta (1589, acted 1592, by the Lord 
Admiral's Players) superseded it. Whereupon, no doubt, 
Shakespeare had the task of recreating The Jew in the form of 
The Merchant of Venice for his own company, the Lord 
Chamberlain's Players. 

Ser Giovanni did not invent the story; it is precisely a 
literary version, with romantic coloring, of a folk-lore story 
of great antiquity and wide distribution. Such a story is 
included in the Gesta Romanorum, the most popular story 
collection of the Middle Ages. (The Gesta Romanorum was 



xxxiv MERCHANT OF VENICE 

compiled in England in Latin towards the end of the thir- 
teenth century.) In the Gesta the Bond Story is No. XL and 
is related as having happened under " Seles tinus a Wise 
Emperor." The daughter of the Emperor was sought 
thrice by a knight : twice he failed ; to make a third trial 
he had to go to a far country and borrow money on the 
security of all his flesh; but there "Virgil the Philosopher" 
told him that a magic letter hid in the lady's bed was his real 
obstacle. So he succeeded, but in his happiness he forgot 
the day of his bond. The princess disguised as a knight 
saved him before the court on the plea of shedding no blood. 
Returned, she showed herself to the knight in her disguise, 
and he gratefully acknowledged the obligation. 

The Gesta Romanorum story thus unites both the Bond 
Story and the Lady of Belmont Story, but to Ser Giovanni 
we apparently owe the modernization of the story, the localiz- 
ing of the scenes in Venice and Belmont, the differentiation 
of the lover and borrower into two kinsmen, the development 
of the story of the Lady of Belmont and her maid, the more 
exact " pound of flesh," the episode of the ring, and, above 
all, the characterization of " the merchant " who lent the 
money as " the Jew of Mestri." 

In another of the older variants, told about the end of the 
thirteenth century in the Cursor Mundi, there is no lady in 
the story; the Christian goldsmith in Constantinople bor- 
rowed money from a Jew on the security of an equal weight 
of flesh. The judges saved him by the usual distinction 
between flesh and blood. Here we reach presumably the 
simplest form of the story. The scene in Constantinople 
suggests the ultimate Eastern origin of the Bond Story. 

One of the variants of the Bond Story appears in the old 
English ballad of unknown date of Gernutus, a Jew. (Re- 
printed in 1754 by Bishop Percy from a black-letter copy.) 
This ballad renders the old and simple form of the story like 
that in the Cursor Mundi, in which the Bond Story is quite 
independent of the Lady of Belmont Story and of the Casket 
Story. As a version of the Bond Story it is interesting as 
containing elements found in Shakespeare's version : the 



INTRODUCTION xxxv 

suggestion of the miserly life of the usurer; the details of 
the plot against the merchant — the loan is "to do a good 
turn " and for " a merry jest " — the reason that the mer- 
chant cannot repay — "because his ships are all at sea"; 
the offers of repayment by various friends ; the " bloody 
Jew," with his " whetted blade " ; the dramatic treatment 
of the climax — " Stay," at the critical moment; the threat 
of hanging if he shed one drop of blood ; " your forfeiture 
now take " ; the departure of the Jew after railing at the 
judge — "he biddeth them farewell." Where the ballad 
has color and good phrases, these are found also in The 
Merchant of Venice, though they are not in II Pecorone. 
Shakespeare either knew the old ballad, or the ballad-writer 
knew the play, or they both used the lost play of The Jew; 
it is a guess which. The ballad-writer cites his authority 
" as Italian writers tell," which shows how Ser Giovanni's 
story was fixed in the popular mind as a source and authority 
for the Bond Story. It is highly probable that the ballad 
depends directly on The Jew, the prologue of which would 
naturally assert the Italian authority, so that in Gernutus 
we probably have the Bond Story as rendered in the lost 
play. 

The ballad of Gernutus is reprinted and discussed in Fur- 
ness, Var., pp. 288-293. 

First Variation — The Three Caskets Story. The main 
source of the plot is Ser Giovanni's story, but the play shows 
important variations. The physical conquest of the Lady 
of Belmont was not dramatic material ; Shakespeare modified 
that part of the story by substituting the romantic story 
known as the Three Caskets. In this he may have followed 
the proto-play of The Jeiv. The device of the choice of 
(usually) three caskets to determine character or luck, or to 
inculcate the lesson of not trusting appearances, appears in 
folk-lore everywhere, back to remote antiquity. The Three 
Caskets Story is found, for instance, in " Ancelmus the 
Emperor," LXVI of the Gesta Romanorum : Three caskets 
of gold, silver, and lead, with their several appearances and 



xxxvi MERCHANT OF VENICE 

contrasting contents and cryptic inscriptions, are offered 
to the Princess of Naples for her choice to test her as a fit 
bride for the son of the Emperor of Rome. She meditates 
over these, and chooses, " as God hath disposed," the leaden 
casket, and wins. 

An English version of the Casket Story was printed by 
Wynkyn de Worde (1510-1515) and again by Richard Robin- 
son in seven editions of selections of the Gesta Romanorum 
from 1577-1602, and furnishes naturally Shakespeare's 
source for this part of the plot. The Three Caskets Story 
is ultimately of Eastern origin. 

The most available reprint of the story is in Bohn's ed. 
of Swan's translation of Gesta Romanorum and Morley's 
ed. of Medieval Tales, in Routledge's World Library. Robin- 
son's version is reprinted in Collier's Shakespeare's Library, 
II, 102 ff., and in part in Furness, Var., 315 f. 

As Shakespeare was rendering the Three Caskets Story 
in the plot, he saw opportunity to add to the dramatic in- 
terest. One woman making a single choice became three 
lovers of three nationalities, developing a climacteric series 
as they declaim, come to the test, and make their point. 

These scenes had precursors on the stage. In Kyd's 
play of Soliman and Perseda (?-1588) the contestants in 
arms at the nuptials of the Prince of Cyprus are the English- 
man, the Frenchman, the Spaniard, the Turk, the German. 
The Turk's boast, like Morocco's, is : 

" Against the Sophy in three pitched fields, 
Under the conduct of great Soliman, 
Have I been chief commander of a host." 

Greene's Orlando Furioso (acted, 1592) opens with a scene 
at the palace of the Emperor of Africa, showing the suitors 
gathered from all courts to sue for the hand of his daughter ; 
and each makes his boast in the style of Morocco. 

Second Variation — The Development of the Bond Story. 
1. The Usurer. In Ser Giovanni's short story the Jew is 
characterized only as " a Jew at Mestri " (village on the main- 
land nearest Venice), who insists on his bond and pound of 
flesh only " that he might have the satisfaction of saying 



INTRODUCTION xxxvii 

that he had put to death the greatest of the Christian mer- 
chants " ; and who was " inflexible." Instead of this scanty 
outline the play offers us the full rich and complex person- 
ality we call Shylock. The suggestion for this development 
came to Shakespeare from the work of his great contemporary, 
Christopher Marlowe. Shakespeare's Shylock was, in the 
days of his creation, an immediate and direct challenge 
to Marlowe's Barrabas (in Marlowe, pronounced bar' ah 
bas) in The Jew of Malta (?-1589). Marlowe's Barrabas 
is the conception of a passionate domineering character 
wrought by robbery and religious hate to crafty schemes of 
remorseless wholesale murder that end in his own undoing. 
Compared with Barrabas, Shakespeare's Shylock is a mild- 
mannered gentleman — certainly a more humanized and so 
a more credible figure, a truer and so a more lasting study in 
individual and social psychology. Nevertheless the proto- 
type of Shylock is Barrabas. As usurer Shylock is related as 
a type character to the literature of many nations and many 
ages from Plautus to Sir Walter Scott. 

2. The Usurer's Daughter. Nothing is said in the originals 
of the Bond Story of the Jew's family. The sub-plot of the 
Jew's daughter and her elopement with the lover's friend is 
Shakespeare's addition to the older story to give fresh and 
adequate motive for the Bond Story. The immediate source 
of this "situation of three" — the rich Jew, the " faithless " 
daughter, and the Christian lover — is offered in Marlowe's 
Jew of Malta, in the relations of Barrabas, Abigail, and Don 
Mathias. Sir Walter Scott repeated the situation in the 
story of Isaac of York, Rebecca, and Bois-Guilbert (Ivan- 
hoe). The sub-plot may go back, as Dunlop suggested, 
to the story collection of Massuccio of Salerno (c. 1470) ; 
the Fourteenth Tale tells of the rich miser of Naples, the 
close-kept daughter, the elopement with the lover and the 
jewels, and the miser's grief. 

3. The Trial Scene. Shakespeare's development of the 
Trial Scene is twofold : (a) the detailed presentation of the 
proceedings; and (6) the perfecting of the plot to involve 
Shylock in a return of Nemesis. 



xxxviii MERCHANT OF VENICE 

(a) The elaboration that Shakespeare gave this part of the 
plot may be judged by contrasting the trial in the original 
story (II Pecorone) with its 76 lines (Furness, Var.) with the 
450 lines of our play. The legal procedure he presents is 
roughly that of the old Roman Law. The interesting thing 
in that procedure is that it was moulded by the same in- 
herent principles as dramatic procedure. (Sir Henry Maine, 
Ancient Law, pp. 268 f.) The Roman trial at law has the 
unity of scene and action, the conflict, complication, climax, 
turn, resolution, and catastrophe of the drama. In Shake- 
speare's hands the Trial Scene becomes a drama in minia- 
ture. The arguments in the case are based on the II Pecorone 
story supplemented by the debate on the famous Pound of 
Flesh case in Silvayn's Epitomes De cents Histoires Tragiques, 
(Declamation XCV), which was printed in France in 1581, 
1588, and Englished and printed in London under the title 
of The Orator in 1596. Portia's Mercy Speech is drawn from 
Cicero's discourse on Mercy. 

The English version of Silvayn is reprinted in Hazlitt's 
Shakespeare Library, I, 355 ff., and Furness, Var., 310 ff. 
Parallel passages from W. H. Harrison by Furnival, in the 
Introd. to Q 2 Facsimile. 

(b) Nemesis in the Trial Scene. Shakespeare added to 
the story a sterner nemesis than is found in II Pecorone. The 
idea of " the biter bitten " has pleased the world in proverb 
and story to remote antiquity. It was not enough that 
Shylock should lose his money ; his aim was Antonio's life, 
and to be quit at the loss of his loan was not poetical justice, 
not even justice. It is possible that the hint for the turn 
Shakespeare gives at the catastrophe of the Trial Scene, 
when he overwhelms Shylock, came from Nash's Unfor- 
tunate Traveller, 1593. There Nash relates how master and 
servant have come to Venice and are there exposed to a 
conspiracy; "I said I would try what the law could do. 
Conspiracy by the custom of their country was a capital offence, 
and what custom or justice might afford they should be all sure 
to feel." (Ed. McKerrow, II, 257.) Dr. Lopez, it will be 
remembered, was condemned to death for conspiracy. 



INTRODUCTION xxxix 

The development of the sub-plots called for additional 
characters, whose nature was determined by the needs of the 
play, — Gratiano as a foil to Bassanio, Launcelot and Old 
Gobbo as clowns in the farce comedy usual in the interludes 
of the Shakespeare comedy. The names of all characters 
in the play are of Shakespeare's choosing. 

Out of the crude material, gathered as we see from the rich 
story material available in Elizabethan times to the wise and 
industrious reader, Shakespeare built his play. He did not 
invent those crude materials. Was it worth while to make 
bricks when he could rear palaces? Like Moliere, he took 
his property wherever he found it; he built out of it an 
organic composition of the highest significant humanity. 
Shakespeare's genius lay in this highest form of organic com- 
position : the power to select and blend and unite, to inform 
everything with a great dramatic idea and purpose, and to 
express all in copious and fascinating language. 

For a more extended view of the sources of The Merchant 
of Venice, see Furness, Var., and for more recent discussions, 
C. K. Pooler, Introd. to The Merchant of Venice, in the 
"Arden Shakespeare " series. 

IX — THE FIRST PRINTED COPIES OF THE PLAY 

The Printed Text. The first reference to the printing of 
The Merchant of Venice is the entry in the Stationers' Register 
under the date of July 22, 1598, when James Roberts got 
permission to print the play, " The Marchaunt of Venyce 
or otherwise called the Jewe of Venyce," on condition, how- 
ever, that he or any other should have, before printing it, 
a further license therefor, from the Lord Chamberlain (under 
whose protection was the actors' company who controlled 
the play). 

The play was actually first printed in 1600. Two ver- 
sions are ascribed to that year, the pseudo-first quarto (Q 1 ) 
printed for J. Roberts, now held to have been printed in 
1619, though dated 1600 (W. J. Neidig, The Shakespeare 
Quartos of 1619, Modern Philology, October, 1910), and the 



xl MERCHANT OF VENICE 

second (really the first) quarto (Q 2 ) printed for Thomas 
Hayes by and with the consent of I. R. (? James Roberts). 
The title of the play in both editions is practically the same ; 
The Most (The Q 1 ) Excellent Historie of the Merchant of Venice. 
With the extreme crueltie of Shylocke the J ewe towards the saide 
Merchant, in cutting a iust -pound of his flesh: and the obtayn- 
ing of Portia by the choyse of three chests (Caskets, Q 1 ). Written 
by William Shakespeare. —1600. (Q 2 ). 

The text of pseuclo-Q l is practically identical with that 
of Q 2 except that Q 2 is, on the whole, printed with more care- 
ful attention to the text and less careful attention to minute 
typographical accuracy. 

Later Quartos were printed — Q 3 in 1637, which added 
the list of dramatis personal, and Q 4 in 1652 ; they have no 
independent value. 

In the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, known 
as the First Folio (F 1 ), 1623, The Merchant of Venice is found 
among the comedies, pp. 163-184 ; the text of F 1 is that of Q 
with minor changes such as additional stage directions. The 
second Folio, 1632, (F 2 ) reprints F 1 with less typographical 
care. 

The present edition is based naturally on the text of Q 2 , 
the real first quarto and presumably nearer to Shakespeare's 
manuscript ; collation has been made of Quarto and Folio 
readings; emendations universally accepted have been in- 
corporated in the text; spelling and punctuation have of 
course been modernized. The division and number of the 
acts are first given in F 1 — Actus primus, Actus secundus, 
etc. ; the scene numbers are added by later editors. 

The discussion of the best text of the play and the relation 
of quarto and folio editions is found in Furnival's introduction 
to Grigg's facsimile reproduction of Q 1 and Q 2 . 



THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

The Duke of Venice. 

The Prince of Morocco, \ n .. mm . p „. • 

The Prince of Arragon, J smtors to P(yrtm 

Antonio, a merchant of Venice. 

Bassanio, his friend, suitor likewise to Portia. 

Salanio, 1 

Salarino, ! gentlemen of Venice and friends to Antonio 

Gratia no, [ Bassanio. 

Salerio, J 

Lorenzo, in love with Jessica. 

Shylock, a rich Jew. 

Tubal, a Jew, friend to Shylock. 

Launcelot Gobbo, the clown, servant to Shylock, afterwards to 

Bassanio. 
Old Gobbo, father to Launcelot. 

Leonardo, servant to Bassanio. 



Balthasar, 
Stephano, 



servants to Portia. 



Portia, a rich heiress, the Lady of Belmont. 
Nerissa, her waiting-gentlewoman. 
Jessica, daughter to Shylock. 

Magnificoes of, Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, Gaoler, 
Servants to Portia, and other Attendants. 

Scene : Partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont, the seat of Portia. 



THE MERCHANT OF 
VENICE 

Act First 
Scene I 

Venice. A Street. 
Enter Antonio, Salarino, and Salanio. 

Antonio. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. 
It wearies me ; you say it wearies you ; 
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, 
I am to learn ; and such a want-wit sadness 

makes of me 5 

That I have much ado to know myself. 

Salarino. Your mind is tossing on the ocean — 
There where your argosies with portly sail, 
Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood, 
Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea, 10 

Do overpeer the petty traffickers 
That curtsy to them, do them reverence, 
As they fly by them with their woven wings. 

Salanio. Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, 

The better part of my affections would 15 

Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still 
Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind, 
3 



4 MERCHANT OF VENICE [acti. sc. i. 

Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads ; 
And every object, that might make me fear 
Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt 20 

Would make me sad. 

Salar. My wind, cooling my broth, 

Would blow me to an ague, when I thought 
What harm a wind too great at sea might do. 
I should not see the sandy hour-glass run, 
But I should think of shallows and of flats, 25 

And see my wealthy Andrew docked in sand 
Vailing her high top lower than her ribs 
To kiss her burial. Should I go to church 
And see the holy edifice of stone, 

And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks, 30 

Which, touching but my gentle vessel's side, 
Would scatter all her spices on the stream, 
Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks ; 
And, in a word, but even now worth this, 
And now worth nothing ? Shall I have the thought 35 
To think on this, and shall I lack the thought 
That such a thing bechanced would make me sad ? 
But tell not me, I know Antonio 
Is sad to think upon his merchandise. 

Ant. Believe me, no. I thank my fortune for it, 40 

My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, 
Nor to one place ; nor is my whole estate 
Upon the fortune of this present year. 
Therefore my merchandise makes, me not sad. 

Salar. Why, then you are in love ! 

Ant. Fie, fie ! 45 

Salar. Not in love neither ? Then let us say you are sad 
Because you are not merry ; and 'twere as easy 



act i. se. i.) MERCHANT OF VENICE 5 

For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry, 
Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed 

Janus, * 

Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time : 50 

Some that will evermore peep through their eyes, 
And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper ; 
And other of such vinegar aspect, 
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile, 
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable. 55 

Enter Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano. 

Salmi. Here comes Bassanio, your most noble kinsman, 

Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare ye well, 

We leave you now with better company. 
Salar. I would have stayed till I had made you merry, 

If worthier friends had not prevented me. 60 

Ant. Your worth is very dear in my regard. 

I take it, your own business calls on you, 

And you embrace the occasion to depart. 
Salar. Good morrow, my good lords. 
Bassanio. Good signiors both, when shall we laugh? 

say, when? 65 

You grow exceeding strange ; must it be so ? 
Salar. We'll make our leisures to attend on yours. 

[Exeunt Salarino and Salanio. 
Lorenzo. My Lord Bassanio, since you have found An- 
tonio, 

We two will leave you ; but at dinner-time, 

I pray you, have in mind where we must meet. 70 

Bass. I will not fail you. 
Gratiano. You look not well, Signior Antonio ; 

You have too much respect upon the world. 



6 MERCHANT OF VENICE [agti. sc. i. 

They lose it that do buy it with much care. 

Believe me, you are marvellously changed. 75 

Ant . I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; 

A stage, where every man must play a part, 

And mine a sad one. 
Gra. Let me play the fool ; 

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come ; 

And let my liver rather heat with wine 80 

Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. 

Why should a man whose blood is warm within 

Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ? — 

Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice 

By being peevish ? I tell thee what, Antonio, — 85 

I love thee, and it is my love that speaks, — 

There are a sort of men whose visages 

Do cream and mantle like a standing pond ; 

And do a wilful stillness entertain 

With purpose to be dressed in an opinion 90 

Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit ; 

As who should say, / am Sir Oracle, 

And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark! 

O my Antonio, I do know of these 

That therefore only are reputed wise 95 

For saying nothing ; when, I am very sure, 

If they should speak, would almost damn those ears 

Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools. 

I'll tell thee more of this another time. 

But fish not with this melancholy bait 100 

For this fool gudgeon, this opinion. 

Come, good Lorenzo. Fare ye well awhile ; 

I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 
Lor. Well, we will leave you, then, till dinner-time. 



act i. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 7 

I must be one of these same dumb wise men, 105 

For Gratiano never lets me speak. 

Gra. Well, keep me company but two years moe, 

Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue. 

Ant. Fare you well ; I'll grow a talker for this gear. 

Gra. Thanks, i' faith; for silence is only commendable 110 
In a neat's tongue dried, and a maid not vendible. 
[Exeunt Gratiano a?id Lorenzo. 

Ant. Is that anything now ? 

Bass. Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more 
than any man in all Venice. His reasons are as 
two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff ; you 115 
shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you 
have them they are not worth the search. 

Ant. Well, tell me now, what lady is the same 
To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage 
That you to-day promised to tell me of ? 120 

Bass. 'Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, 
How much I have disabled mine estate, 
By something showing a more swelling port 
Than my faint means would grant continuance. 
Nor do I now make moan to be abridged 125 

From such a noble rate ; but my chief care 
Is, to come fairly off from the great debts 
Wherein my time, something too prodigal, 
Hath left me gaged. To you, Antonio, 
I owe the most, in money and in love ; 130 

And from your love I have a warranty 
To unburthen all my plots and purposes 
How to get clear of all the debts I owe. 

Ant. I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it ; 

And if it stand, as you yourself still do, 135 



8 MERCHANT OF VENICE [acti. sc. i. 

Within the eye of honor, be assured 

My purse, my person, my extremest means, 

Lie all unlocked to your occasions. 

Bass. In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft, 

I shot his fellow of the self -same flight 140 

The self-same way, with more advised watch, 

To find the other forth ; and by adventuring both, 

I oft found both. I urge this childhood proof 

Because what follows is pure innocence. 

I owe you much ; and, like a wilful youth, 145 

That which I owe is lost ; but if you please 

To shoot another arrow that self way 

Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt, 

As I will watch the aim, or to find both, 

Or bring your latter hazard back again, 150 

And thankfully rest debtor for the first. 

Ant. You know me well, and herein spend but time 
To wind about my love with circumstance ; 
And out of doubt you do me now more wrong 
In making question of my uttermost 155 

Than if you had made waste of all I have. 
Then do but say to me what I should do, 
That in your knowledge may by me be done, 
And I am prest unto it ; therefore, speak. 

Bass. In Belmont is a lady richly left ; 160 

And she is fair, and, fairer than that word, 
Of wondrous virtues. Sometimes from her eyes 
I did receive fair speechless messages. 
Her name is Portia, — nothing undervalued 
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia. 165 

Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth ; 
For the four winds blow in from every coast 



act i. sc.il] MERCHANT OF VENICE 9 

Renowned suitors ; and her sunny locks 

Hang on her temples like a golden fleece ; 

Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos' strand, 170 

And many Jasons come in quest of her. 

my Antonio, had I but the means 
To hold a rival place with one of them, 

1 have a mind presages me such thrift 

That I should questionless be fortunate. 175 

Ant. Thou know'st that all my fortunes are at sea ; 
Neither have I money, nor commodity 
To raise a present sum. Therefore go forth ; 
Try what my credit can in Venice do ; 
That shall be racked, even to the uttermost, 180 

To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia. 
Go presently inquire, and so will I, 
Where money is ; and I no question make 
To have it of my trust, or for my sake. [Exeunt. 

Scene II 

Belmont. A room in Portia's house. 
Enter Portia with her waiting-gentlewoman, Nerissa. 

Portia. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary 
of this great world. 

Nerissa. You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries 
were in the same abundance as your good fortunes 
are. And yet, for aught I see, they are as sick that 5 
surfeit with too much, as they that starve with noth- 
ing. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated 
in the mean ; superfluity comes sooner by white 
hairs, but competency lives longer, 



10 MERCHANT OF VENICE [acti. sc.ir. 

Por. Good sentences, and well pronounced. 10 

Ner. They would be better, if well followed. 

Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were good 
to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's 
cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that 
follows his own instructions. I can easier teach 15 
twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the 
twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may 
devise laws for the blood; but a hot temper leaps 
o'er a cold decree. Such a hare is madness the youth, 
to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple. 20 
— But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose 
me a husband. — O me, the word choose ! I may 
neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I 
dislike ; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by 
the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, 25 
that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none ? 

Ner. Your father was ever virtuous ; and holy men at 
their death have good inspirations. Therefore the 
lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of 
gold, silver, and lead, — whereof who chooses his 30 
meaning chooses you, — will, no doubt, never be 
chosen by any rightly but one who in you shall 
rightly love. But what warmth is there in your 
affection towards any of these princely suitors that 
are already come? 35 

Por. I pray thee, over-name them ; and as thou namest 
them, I will describe them ; and according to my 
description level at my affection. 

Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. 

Por. Ay, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but 40 
talk of his horse ; and he makes it a great appro- 



act i. sc. ii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 11 

priation to his own good parts that he can shoe him 
himself. 

Ner. Then there is the County Palatine. 

Por. He doth nothing but frown ; as who should say, // 45 
you will not have me, choose. He hears merry tales, 
and smiles not; I fear he will prove the weeping 
philosopher when he grows old, being so full of un- 
mannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be 
married to a death's-head with a bone in his mouth 50 
than to either of these. God defend me from these 
two ! 

Ner. How say you by the French lord, Monsieur Le 
Bon? 

Por. God made him, and therefore let him pass for a 55 
man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker ; 
but, he ! — why, he hath a horse better than the 
Neapolitan's ; a better bad habit of frowning than 
the Count Palatine ; he is every man in no man. If 
a throstle sing, he falls straight a-capering ; he will 60 
fence with his own shadow. If I should marry him, 
I should marry twenty husbands. If he would de- 
spise me, I would forgive him ; for if he love me to 
madness, I shall never requite him. 

Ner. What say you, then, to Falconbridge, the young 65 
Baron of England ? 

Por. You know I say nothing to him ; for he under- 
stands not me, nor I him. He hath neither Latin, 
French, nor Italian ; and you will come into the 
court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth in 70 
the English. He is a proper man's picture ; but, 
alas, who can converse with a dumb-show? How 
oddly he is suited ! I think he bought his doublet 



12 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act i. sen. 

in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in 
Germany, and his behavior everywhere. 75 

Ner. What think you of the Scottish lord, his neighbor ? 

Por. That he hath a neighborly charity in him ; for he 
borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, and 
swore he would pay him again when he was able ; 
I think the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed 80 
under for another. 

Ner. How like you the young German, the Duke of 
Saxony's nephew? 

Por. Very vilely in the morning, when he is sober ; and 

most vilely in the afternoon, when he is drunk. 85 
When he is best, he is a little worse than a man ; and 
when he is worst, he is little better than a beast. And 
the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift 
to go without him. 

Ner. If he should offer to choose, and choose the right 90 
casket, you should refuse to perform your father's 
will, if you should refuse to accept him. 

Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, set a 
deep glass of Rhenish wine on the contrary casket ; 
for, if the devil be within and that temptation with- 95 
out, I know he will choose it. I will do anything, 
Nerissa, ere I'll be married to a sponge. 

Ner. You need not fear, lady, the having any of these 
lords. They have acquainted me with their deter- 
minations ; which is, indeed, to return to their home, 100 
and to trouble you with no more suit, unless you 
may be won by some other sort than your father's 
imposition, depending on the caskets. 

Por. If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste 

as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my 105 



act i. sc. iij MERCHANT OF VENICE 13 

father's will. I am glad this parcel of wooers are 

so reasonable ; for there is not one among them but 

I dote on his very absence ; and I pray God grant 

them a fair departure. 
Ner. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's time, 110 

a Venetian, a scholar, and a soldier, that came 

hither in company of the Marquis of Montferrat ? 
Por. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio ; as I think, so was he 

called. 
Ner. True, madam: he, of all the men that ever my 115 

foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a 

fair lady. 
Por. I remember him well ; and I remember him 

worthy of thy praise. 

Enter a Serving-man. 

How now ! what news ? 120 

Serv. The four strangers seek for you, madam, to take 
their leave : and there is a forerunner come from a 
fifth, the Prince of Morocco ; who brings word, the 
Prince his master will be here to-night. 
Por. If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good a 125 
heart as I can bid the other four farewell, I should 
be glad of his approach. If he have the condition of 
a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he 
should shrive me than wive me. 

Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. Whiles we shut 130 
the gates upon one wooer, another knocks at the door. 

[Exeunt. 



14 MERCHANT OF VENICE [acti. sc.ra 

Scene III 

Venice. A Public Place. 
Enter Bassanio with Shylock, the Jew.^ 

Shylock. Three thousand ducats ; well. 

Bassanio. Ay, sir, for three months. 

Shy. For three months ; well. 

Bass. For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall be 

bound. 5 

Shy. Antonio shall become bound ; well. 

Bass. May you stead me? Will you pleasure me? 
Shall I know your answer ? 

Shy. Three thousand ducats, for three months, and 

Antonio bound. 10 

Bass. Your answer to that. 

Shy. Antonio is a good man. 

Bass. Have you heard any imputation to the contrary? 

Shy. Ho, no, no, no, no. My meaning, in saying he is a 

good man, is to have you understand me that he is 15 
sufficient. Yet his means are in supposition ; he 
hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the 
Indies ; I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he 
hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for England, and 
other ventures he hath, squandered abroad. But 20 
ships are but boards, sailors but men ; there be land- 
rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-thieves, 
— I mean pirates ; and then there is the peril of 
waters, winds, and rocks. The man is, notwith- 
standing, sufficient. Three thousand ducats; I 25 
think I may take his bond. 

Bass. Be assured you may. 



act i. sc. in.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 15 

Shy. I will be assured I may; and, that I may be 
assured, I will bethink me. May I speak with 
Antonio ? , 30 

Bass. If it please you to dine with us. 

Shy. Yes, to smell pork ; to eat of the habitation which 
your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into. 
I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, 
walk with you, and so following ; but I will not eat 35 
with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. What 
news on the Rial to ? Who is he comes here ? 

Enter Antonio. 

Bass. This is Signior Antonio. 

Shy. [Aside] How like a fawning publican he looks ! I 

hate him for he is a Christian ; 40 

But more for that in low simplicity 

He lends out money gratis and brings down 

The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 

If I can catch him once upon the hip, 

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 45 

He hates our sacred nation ; and he rails, 

Even there where merchants most do congregate, 

On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 

Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe, 

If I forgive him ! 

Bass. Shylock, do you hear? 50 

Shy. I am debating of my present store ; 
And, by the near guess of my memory, 
I cannot instantly raise up the gross 
Of full three thousand ducats. What of that ? 
Tubal, a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe, 55 

Will furnish me. But soft ! how many months 



16 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act i. sc. m. 

Do you desire ? [ To Antonio] Rest you fair, good 
signior ; 

Your, worship was the last man in our mouths. 
Antonio. Shy lock, although I neither lend nor borrow 

By taking nor by giving of excess, 60 

Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend, 

I'll break a custom. Is he yet possessed 

How much ye would ? 
Shy. Ay, ay, three thousand ducats. 

Ant. And for three months. 
Shy. I had forgot ; three months, you told me so. 65 

Well then, your bond ; and let me see, but hear 
you; 

Methought you said you neither lend nor borrow 

Upon advantage. 
Ant. I do never use it. 

Shy. When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep, — 

This Jacob from our holy Abram was, 70 

As his wise mother wrought in his behalf, 

The third possessor ; ay, he was the third, — 
Ant. And what of him ? did he take interest ? 
Shy. No, not take interest ; not, as you would say, 

Directly interest : mark what Jacob did. 75 

When Laban and himself were compromised 

That all the eanlings which were streaked and pied 

Should fall as Jacob's hire, . . . 

The skilful shepherd peeled me certain wands ; 

He stuck them up before the fulsome ewes, 80 

Who, then conceiving, did in eaning time 

Fall parti-colored lambs, and those were Jacob's. 

This was a way to thrive, and he was blest ; 

And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not. 



act i. sc. in.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 17 

Ant . This was a venture, sir, that Jacob served for ; 85 

A thing not in his power to bring to pass, 

But swayed and fashioned by the hand of heaven. 

Was this inserted to make interest good ? 

Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams ? 
Shy. I cannot tell ; I make it breed as fast. 90 

But note me, signior. 
Ant. Mark you this, Bassanio, 

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 

An evil soul producing holy witness 

Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, 

A goodly apple rotten at the heart. 95 

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath ! 
Shy. Three thousand ducats ; 'tis a good round sum. 

Three months from twelve; then, let me see, the 
rate — 
Ant . Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you ? 
Shy. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft 100 

In the Rialto you have rated me 

About my moneys and my usances ; 

Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, 

For suffrance is the badge of all our tribe. 

You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, 105 

And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, 

And all for use of that which is mine own. 

Well then, it now appears you need my help ; 

Go to, then ; you come to me, and you say 

Shylock, we would have moneys. You say so ; 110 

You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, 

And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur 

Over your threshold ; moneys is your suit. 

What should I say to you ? Should I not say 



18 MERCHANT OF VENICE [acti. sc. hi. 

Hath a dog money? Is it possible 115 

A cur can lend three thousand ducats ? or 

Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key, 

With bated breath and whispering humbleness, 

Say this : Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; 

You spurned me such a day; another time 120 

You called me dog; and for these courtesies 

Til lend you thus much moneys? 

Ant. I am as like to call thee so again, 

To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. 

If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not 125 

As to thy friends ; for when did friendship take 

A breed for barren metal of his friend ? 

But lend it rather' to thine enemy, 

Who if he break, thou mayest with better face 

Exact the penalty. 

Shy. Why, look you, how you storm ! 130 

I would be friends with you, and have your love, 
Forget the shames that you have stained me with, 
Supply your present wants, and take no doit 
Of usance for my moneys, and you'll not hear me. 
This is kind I offer. 135 

Bass. This were kindness. 

Shy. This kindness will I show. 

Go with me to a notary, seal me there 
Your single bond ; and, in a merry sport, 
If you repay me not on such a day, 
In such a place, such sum or sums as are 140 

Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit 
Be nominated for an equal pound 
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 
In what part of your body it pleaseth me. 



act i. sc.iii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 19 

Ant. Content, in faith ; I'll seal to such a bond, 145 

And say there is much kindness in the Jew. 
Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for me ; ' 

I'll rather dwell in my necessity. 
Ant. Why, fear not, man ; I will not forfeit it. 

Within these two months, — that's a month before 150 

This bond expires, — I do expect return 

Of thrice three times the value of this bond. 
Shy. O father Abram, what these Christians are, 

Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect 

The thoughts of others ! Pray you, tell me this : 155 

If he should break his day, what should I gain 

By the exaction of the forfeiture ? 

A pound of man's flesh taken from a man 

Is not so estimable, profitable neither, 

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say, 160 

To buy his favor, I extend this friendship. 

If he will take it, so ; if not, adieu ; 

And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not. 
Ant. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond. 
Shy. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's ; 165 

Give him direction for this merry bond ; 

And I will go and purse the ducats straight ; 

See to my house, left in the fearful guard 

Of an unthrifty knave ; and presently 

I will be with you. 
Ant. Hie thee, gentle Jew. [Exit Shylock. 170 

The Hebrew will turn Christian ; he grows kind. 
Bass. I like not fair terms and a villain's mind. 
Ant. Come on. In this there can be no dismay ; 

My ships come home a month before the day. 

[Exeunt. 



Act Second 
Scene I 

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 

Enter Morocco, a tawny Moor all in white, and three or four 
followers accordingly; with Portia, Nerissa, and their 
trains. Flourish of cornets. 

Morocco. Mislike me not for my complexion, 
The shadowed livery of the burnished sun, 
To whom I am a neighbor and near bred. 
Bring me the fairest creature northward born, 
Where Phcebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles, 5 

And let us make incision for your love, 
To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine. 
I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine 
Hath feared the valiant ; by my love, I swear, 
The best-regarded virgins of our clime 10 

Have loved it too. I would not change this hue, 
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen. 

Portia. In terms of choice I am not solely led 
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes ; 
Besides, the lottery of my destiny 15 

Bars me the right of voluntary choosing ; 
But if my father had not scanted me 
And hedged me by his wit, to yield myself 
His wife who wins me by that means I told you, 
20 



act ii. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 21 

Yourself, renowned Prince, then stood as fair 20 

As any comer I have looked on yet 
For my affection. 

Mor. Even for that I thank you : 

Therefore, I pray you lead me to the caskets, 
To try my fortune. By this scimitar, 
That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince 25 

That won three fields of Sultan Solyman, 
I would o'erstare the sternest eyes that look, 
Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth, 
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, 
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, 30 

To win thee, lady. But, alas the while ! 
If Hercules and Lichas play at dice 
Which is the better man, the greater throw 
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand ; 
So is Alcides beaten by his page ; 35 

And so may I, blind Fortune leading me, 
Miss that which one unworthier may attain, 
And die with grieving. 

For. You must take your chance 

And either not attempt to choose at all, 
Or swear before you choose, if you choose wrong, 40 

Never to speak to lady afterward 
In way of marriage ; therefore be advised. 

Mor. Nor will not. Come, bring me unto my chance. 

Por. First, forward to the temple ; after dinner 
Your hazard shall be made. 

Mor. Good fortune then, 45 

To make me blest or cursed'st among men ! 

[Cornets, and exeunt. 



22 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sc. ii. 

Scene II 

Venice. A Street. 

Enter Launcelot. 

Launcelot. Certainly my conscience will serve me to run 
from this Jew, my master. The fiend is at mine el- 
bow, and tempts me, saying to me, " Gobbo, Launcelot 
Gobbo, good Launcelot," or "good Gobbo," or "good 
Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away.' ' 5 
My conscience says, " No ; take heed, honest Launce- 
lot; take heed, honest Gobbo," or, as aforesaid, 
" honest Launcelot Gobbo ; do not run ; scorn running 
with thy heels" Well, the most courageous fiend bids 
me pack ; " Via ! " says the fiend ; " away ! " says the 10 
fiend ; "for the heavens, rouse up a brave mind" says 
the fiend, " and run." Well, my conscience, hanging 
about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me, 
" My honest friend Launcelot," being an honest man's 
son, or rather an honest woman's son, — for, indeed, 15 
my father did something smack, something grow to, 
he had a kind of taste ; — well, my conscience says, 
"Launcelot, budge not." "Budge," says the fiend; 
"budge not," says my conscience. "Conscience ," 
say I, "you counsel well;" "Fiend" say I, "you 20 
counsel well." To be ruled by my conscience, I 
should stay with the Jew, my master, who, God bless 
the mark, is a kind of devil ; and, to run away from 
the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving 
your reverence, is the devil himself. Certainly the 25 
Jew is the very devil incarnation ; and, in my con- 
science, my conscience is but a kind of hard con- 



act ii. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 23 

science, to offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew. 
The fiend gives the more friendly counsel : I will run, 
fiend ; my heels are at your commandment ; I will 30 
run. 

Enter Old Gobbo, with a basket. 

Gobbo. Master young-man, you, I pray you, which is the 

way to Master Jew's ? 
Laun. [Aside] O heavens, this is my true-begotten 

father ! who, being more than sand-blind, high- 35 

gravel blind, knows me not; I will try confusions 

with him. 
Gob. Master young gentleman, I pray you, which is the 

way to Master Jew's ? 
Laun. Turn up on your right hand at the next turning, 40 

but, at the next turning of all, on your left ; marry, 

at the very next turning, turn of no hand, but turn 

down indirectly to the Jew's house. 
Gob. By God's sonties, 'twill be a hard way to hit. Can 

you tell me whether one Launcelot that dwells with 45 

him, dwell with him or no ? 
Laun. Talk you of young Master Launcelot? [Aside] 

Mark me now ; now will I raise the waters. Talk 

you of young Master Launcelot ? 
Gob. No Master, sir, but a poor man's son ; his father, 50 

though I say it, is an honest exceeding poor man, 

and, God be thanked, well to live. 
Laun. Well, let his father be what a' will, we talk of 

young Master Launcelot. 
Gob. Your worship's friend and Launcelot, sir. 55 

Laun. But I pray you, ergo, old man, ergo, I beseech you, 

talk you of young Master Launcelot ? 



24 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act n. sen. 

Gob. Of Launcelot, an't please your mastership. 

Laun. Ergo, Master Launcelot. Talk not of Master 

Launcelot, father; for the young gentleman, ac- 60 
cording to Fates and Destinies and such odd sayings, 
the Sisters Three and such branches of learning, is 
indeed deceased ; or, as you would say in plain 
terms, gone to heaven. 

Gob. Marry, God forbid ! the boy was the very staff of 65 
my age, my very prop. 

Laun. Do I look like a cudgel or a hovel-post, a staff or 
a prop ? Do you know me, father ? 

Gob. Alack the day, I know you not, young gentleman : 

but, I pray you, tell me, is my boy, God rest his soul, 70 
alive or dead ? 

Laun. Do you not know me, father ? 

Gob. Alack, sir, I am sand-blind ; I know you not. 

Laun. Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might 

fail of the knowing me ; it is a wise father that 75 
knows his own child. Well, old man, I will tell you 
news of your son ; give me your blessing ; truth will 
come to light ; murder cannot be hid long ; a man's 
son may ; but, in the end, truth will out. 

Gob. Pray you, sir, stand up ; I am sure you are not 80 
Launcelot, my boy. 

Laun. Pray you, let's have no more fooling about it, 
but give me your blessing. I am Launcelot, your 
boy that was, your son that is, your child that shall 
be. 85 

Gob. I cannot think you are my son. 

Laun. I know not what I shall think of that ; but I am 
Launcelot, the Jew's man ; and I am sure Margery 
your wife is my mother. 



act ii. sc. ii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 25 

Gob. Her name is Margery, indeed ; I'll be sworn, if 90 
thou be Launcelot, thou art mine own flesh and 
blood. Lord worshipped might he be ! what a beard 
hast thou got ! thou hast got more hair on thy chin 
than Dobbin my fill-horse has on his tail. 

Laun. It should seem, then, that Dobbin's tail grows 95 
backward. I am sure he had more hair of his tail 
than I have of my face when I last saw him. 

Gob. Lord, how art thou changed ! How dost thou and 
thy master agree ? I have brought him a present. 
How 'gree you now ? * 100 

Laun. Well, well ; but, for mine own part, as I have set 
up my rest to run away, so I will not rest till I have 
run some ground. My master's a very Jew ; give 
him a present ! give him a halter. I am famished 
in his service ; you may tell every finger I have with 105 
my ribs. Father, I am glad you are come ; give 
me your present to one Master Bassanio, who, in- 
deed, gives rare new liveries. If I serve not him, I 
will run as far as God has any ground. O rare for- 
tune ! here comes the man ; to him, father, for I am 110 
a Jew, if I serve the Jew any longer. 
Enter Bassanio, with Leonardo and other Followers. 

Bassanio. You may do so ; but let it be so hasted, that 
supper be ready at the farthest by five of the clock ; 
see these letters delivered ; put the liveries to mak- 
ing ; and desire Gratiano to come anon to my Jodg- 115 
ing. [Exit a Servant. 

Laun. To him, father. 

Gob. God bless your worship ! 

Bass. Gramercy ! wouldst thou aught with me? 

Gob. Here's my son, sir, a poor boy, — 120 



26 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sen. 

Laun. Not a poor boy, sir, but the rich Jew's man ; that 

would, sir, — as my father shall specify, — 
Gob. He hath a great infection, sir, as one would say, to 

serve — 
Laun. Indeed, the short and the long is, I serve the Jew, 125 

and have a desire, — as my father shall specify, — 
Gob. His master and he, saving your worship's reverence, 

are scarce cater-cousins, — 
Laun. To be brief, the very truth is that the Jew, having 

done me wrong, doth cause me, — as my father, 130 

being, I hope, an old man, shall frutify unto you, — 
Gob. I have here a dish of doves that I would bestow 

upon your worship, and my suit is — 
Laun. In very brief, the suit is impertinent to myself, 

as your worship shall know by this honest old man, 135 

and, though I say it, though old man, yet poor man, 

my father. 
Bass. One speak for both. What would you ? 
Laun. Serve you, sir. 

Gob. That is the very defect of the matter, sir. 140 

Bass. I know thee well ; thou hast obtained thy suit. 

Shylock thy master spoke with me this day, 

And hath preferred thee, if it be preferment 

To leave a rich Jew's service, to become 

The follower of so poor a gentleman. 145 

Laun. The old proverb is very well parted between my 

master Shylock and you, sir : you have the grace 

of God, sir, and he hath enough. 
Bass. Thou speak'st it well. Go, father, with thy son ; 

Take leave of thy old master, and inquire 150 

My lodging out. Give him a livery 

More guarded than his fellows' ; see it done. 



act ii. sc. ii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 27 

Laun. Father, in. I cannot get a service, no ; I have 
ne'er a tongue in my head, well ! If any man in Italy 
have a fairer table which doth offer to swear upon a 155 
book, I shall have good fortune ! Go to, here's a 
simple line of life ; here's a small trifle of wives ; alas, 
fifteen wives is nothing ! aleven widows and nine 
maids is a simple coming-in for one man ; and then 
to 'scape drowning thrice, and to be in peril of my 180 
life with the edge of a feather-bed ; — here are sim- 
ple scapes. Well, if Fortune be a woman, she's 
a good wench for this gear. Father, come ; I'll take 
my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye. 

[Exeunt Launcelot and Old Gobbo. 

Bass. I pray thee, good Leonardo, think on this : 165 

These things being bought and orderly bestowed, 
Return in haste, for I do feast to-night 
My best-esteemed acquaintance ; hie thee, go. 

Leonardo. My best endeavors shall be done herein. 

Enter Gratiano. 

Gratiano. Where is your master ? 

Leon. Yonder, sir, he walks. [Exit. 170 

Gra. Signior Bassanio, — 

Bass. Gratiano ! 

Gra. I have a suit to you. 

Bass. You have obtained it. 

Gra. You must not deny me ; I must go with you to 

Belmont. 175 

Bass. Why, then you must. But hear thee, Gratiano ; 

Thou art too wild, too rude, and bold of voice, — 

Parts that become thee happily enough, 

And in such eyes as ours appear not faults ; 



28 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sera. 

But where thou art not known, why there they show 180 

Something too liberal. Pray thee, take pain 

To allay with some cold drops of modesty 

Thy skipping spirit, lest through thy wild behavior 

I be misconstrued in the place I go to, 

And lose my hopes. 

Gra. Signior Bassanio, hear me. 185 

If I do not put on a sober habit, 
Talk with respect, and swear but now and then, 
Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely, 
Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes 
Thus with my hat, and sigh, and say "Amen," 190 

Use all the observance of civility, 
Like one well studied in a sad ostent 
To please his grandam, never trust me more. 

Bass. Well, we shall see your bearing. 

Gra. Nay, but I bar to-night ; you shall not gauge me 195 
By what we do to-night. 

Bass. No, that were pity ; 

I would entreat you rather to put on 
Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends 
That purpose merriment. But fare you well ; 
I have some business. 200 

Gra. And I must to Lorenzo and the rest ; 

But we will visit you at supper-time. [Exeunt. 

Scene III 

The Same. A Room in Shylock's House. 

Enter Jessica and Launcelot. 

Jessica. I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so ; 
Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil, 



act it. sc.iv.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 29 

Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness. 

But fare thee well ; there is a ducat for thee. 

And, Launcelot, soon at supper shalt thou see 5 

Lorenzo, who is thy new master's guest ; 

Give him this letter ; do it secretly. 

And so farewell ; I would not have my father 

See me in talk with thee. 
Laun. Adieu ! tears exhibit my tongue. Most beauti- 10 

ful pagan, most sweet Jew ! But adieu, — these 

foolish drops do something drown my manly spirit. 

Adieu. 
J es. Farewell, good Launcelot. [Exit Launcelot. 

Alack, what heinous sin is it in me 15 

To be ashamed to be my father's child ! 

But though I am a daughter to his blood, 

I am not to his manners. O Lorenzo, 

If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife, 

Become a Christian and thy loving wife. [Exit. 20 

Scene IV 

The Same. A Street. 
Enter Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Salanio. 

Lorenzo. Nay, we will slink away in supper-time, 

Disguise us at my lodging, and return 

All in an hour. 
Gratiano. We have not made good preparation. 
Salarino. We have not spoke us yet of torch-bearers. 5 

Salanio. 'Tis vile, unless it may be quaintly ordered, 

And better in my mind not undertook. 
Lor. 'Tis now but four o'clock : we have two hours 

To furnish us. 



30 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act ii. bc.iv. 

Enter Launcelot with a letter. 

Friend Launcelot, what's the news ? 
Launcelot. And it shall please you to break up this, it 10 

shall seem to signify. 
Lor. I know the hand ; — in faith, 'tis a fair hand ; 

And whiter than the paper it writ on 

Is the fair hand that writ. 
Gra. Love-news, in faith. 

Lawn. By your leave, sir. 15 

Lor. Whither goest thou ? 
Lawn. Marry, sir, to bid my old master the Jew to sup 

to-night with my new master the Christian. 
Lor. Hold here, take this ; tell gentle Jessica 

I will not fail her ; speak it privately. 20 

Go, gentlemen, [Exit Launcelot. 

Will you prepare you for this masque to-night ? 

I am provided of a torch-bearer. 
Salar. Ay, marry, I'll begone about it straight. 
Salan. And so will I. 
Lor. Meet me and Gratiano 25 

At Gratiano's lodging some hour hence. 
Salar. 'Tis good we do so. 

[Exeunt Salarino and Salanio. 
Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ? 
Lor. I must needs tell thee all. She hath directed 

How I shall take her from her father's house ; 30 

What gold and jewels she is furnished with ; 

What page's suit she hath in readiness. 

If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven, 

It will be for his gentle daughter's sake ; 

And never dare misfortune cross her foot, 35 



act ii. sc.v.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 31 

Unless she do it under this excuse, 

That she is issue to a faithless Jew. 

Come, go with me ; peruse this as thou goest ; 

Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer. [Exeunt. 

Scene V 

The Same. Before Shylock's House. 
Enter Shylock and Launcelot. 

Shylock. Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be thy 
judge, 
The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio : — 
What, Jessica ! — thou shalt not gormandise, 
As thou hast done with me : — What, Jessica ! — 
And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out ; — 5 

Why, Jessica, I say ! 

Launcelot. Why, Jessica ! 

Shy. Who bids thee call ? I do not bid thee call. 

Laun. Your worship was wont to tell me that I could 
do nothing without bidding. 

Enter Jessica. 

Jessica. Call you ? what is your will ? 10 

Shy. I am bid forth to supper, Jessica ; 

There are my keys. — But wherefore should I go ? 

I am not bid for love ; they flatter me. 

But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon 

The prodigal Christian. — Jessica, my girl, 15 

Look to my house. — I am right loath to go ; 

There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, 

For I did dream of money-bags to-night. 



32 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act n. sc. v. 

Laun. I beseech you, sir, go ; my young master doth 

expect your reproach. 20 

Shy. So do I his. 

Laun. And they have conspired together, I will not say 
you shall see a masque ; but if you do, then it was 
not for nothing that my nose fell a-bleeding on 
Black Monday last at six o'clock i' the morning, fall- 25 
ing out that year on Ash- Wednesday was four year, 
in the afternoon. * 

Shy. What, are there masques ? Hear you me, Jessica, 
Lock up my doors ; and when you hear the drum 
And the vile squealing of the wry-necked fife, 30 

Clamber not you up to the casements then, 
Nor thrust your head into the public street 
To gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces ; 
But stop my house's ears, I mean my casements, 
Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter 35 

My sober house. By Jacob's staff, I swear 
I have no mind of feasting forth to-night ; 
But I will go. Go you before me, sirrah ; 
Say I will come. 

Laun. I will go before, sir. Mistress, look out at win- 40 
dow, for all this ; 

There will come a Christian by, 

Will be worth a Jew's eye. [Exit. 

Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring, ha ? 

Jes. His words were, "Farewell, mistress;" nothing 

else. 45 

Shy. The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder ; 
Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day 
More than the wild-cat. Drones hive not with me ; 
Therefore I part with him ; and part with him 



act ii. bcvi.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 33 

To one that I would have him help to waste 50 

His borrowed purse. Well, Jessica, go in ; 
Perhaps I will return immediately. 
Do as I bid you ; shut doors after you. 
Fast bind, fast find, — 

A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. [Exit. 55 

Jes. Farewell ; and if my fortune be not crossed, 

I have a father, you a daughter, lost. [Exit. 

Scene VI 

The Same. 
Enter the Maskers, Gratiano and Salarino. 

Gratiano. This is the pent-house under which Lorenzo 

Desired us to make stand. 
Salarino. His hour is almost past. 

Gra. And it is marvel he out-dwells his hour, 

For lovers ever run before the clock. 
Salar. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly 5 

To seal love's bonds new-made, than they are wont 

To keep obliged faith unforfeited ! 
Gra. That ever holds. Who riseth from a feast 

With that keen appetite that he sits down ? 

Where is the horse that doth untread again 10 

His tedious measures with the unbated fire 

That he did pace them first ? All things that are, 

Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed. 

How like a younker or a prodigal 

The scarfed bark puts from her native bay, 15 

Hugged and embraced by the strumpet wind ! 

How like the prodigal doth she return, 



34 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sc. vi. 

With over-weathered ribs and ragged sails, 
Lean, rent, and beggared by the strumpet wind ! 
Salar. Here comes Lorenzo ; more of this hereafter. 20 

Enter Lorenzo 

Lorenzo. Sweet friends, your patience for my long abode ; 
Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait. 
When you shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
I'll watch as long for you then. Approach ; 
Here dwells my father Jew. Ho ! who's within ? 25 

Enter Jessica, above, in page's clothes. 

Jessica. Who are you ? Tell me, for more certainty, 

Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue. 
Lor. Lorenzo, and thy love. 
Jes. Lorenzo, certain, and my love, indeed, 

For who love I so much ? and now who knows 30 

But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours ? 
Lor. Heaven and thy thoughts are witness that thou 

art. 
Jes. Here, catch this casket ; it is worth the pains. 

I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me, 

For I am much ashamed of my exchange. 35 

But love is blind, and lovers cannot see 

The pretty follies that themselves commit ; 

For if they could, Cupid himself would blush 

To see me thus transformed to a boy. 
Lor. Descend, for you must be my torch-bearer. 40 

Jes. What, must I hold a candle to my shames ? 

They in themselves, good sooth, are too too light. 

Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love, 

And I should be obscured. 



act ii. sc.vi.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 35 

Lor. So are you, sweet, 

Even in the lovely garnish of a boy. But come at 

once ; 45 

For the close night doth play the runaway, 

And we are stayed for at Bassanio's feast. 
Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself 

With some moe ducats, and be with you straight. 

[Exit above. 
Gra. Now, by my hood, a Gentile, and no Jew. 50 

Lor. Beshrew me but I love her heartily ; 

For she is wise, if I can judge of her ; 

And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true ; 

And true she is, as she hath proved herself ; 

And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true, 55 

Shall she be placed in my constant soul. 

Enter Jessica, below. 

What, art thou come ? On, gentlemen ; away ! 
Our masquing mates by this time for us stay. 

[Exit with Jessica and Salarino 

Enter Antonio. 

Antonio. Who's there? 

Gra. Signior Antonio ! 60 

Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano ; where are all the rest ? 

'Tis nine o'clock ; our friends all stay for you. 

No masque to-night ; the wind is come about ; 

Bassanio presently will go aboard. 

I have sent twenty out to seek for you. 65 

Gra. I am glad on't ; I desire no more delight 

Than to be under sail and gone to-night. [Exeunt. 



36 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act n. sc. vn. 

Scene VII 

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 

Flourish of cornets. Enter Portia, with the Prince of 
Morocco, and both their trains. 

Portia. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover 
The several caskets to this noble Prince. 
Now make your choice. 

Morocco. The first, of gold, who this inscription bears, 

" Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire ;" 5 

The second, silver, which this promise carries, 

" Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves;" 

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt, 

" Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." 

How shall I know if I do choose the right? 10 

Por. The one of them contains my picture, Prince : 
If you choose that, then I am yours withal. 

Mor. Some god direct my judgment ! Let me see ; 
I will survey the inscriptions back again. 
What says this leaden casket ? 15 

" Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." 
Must give, — for what ? for lead ? — hazard for lead ? 
This casket threatens. Men that hazard all 
Do it in hope of fair advantages. 

A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross ; 20 

I'll then nor give nor hazard aught for lead. 
What says the silver with her virgin hue ? 
" Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." 
As much as he deserves ! Pause there, Morocco, 
And weigh thy value with an even hand. — 25 

If thou be'st rated by thy estimation, 



act ii. sc. vii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 37 

Thou dost deserve enough ; and yet enough 

May not extend so far as to the lady ; 

And yet to be afeared of my deserving 

Were but a weak disabling of myself. — 30 

As much as I deserve ! — Why, that's the lady. 

I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes, 

In graces and in qualities of breeding ; 

But more than these, in love I do deserve. 

What if I strayed no further, but chose here ? 35 

Let's see once more this saying graved in gold : 

" Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." 

— Why, that's the lady. All the world desires her ; 

From the four corners of the earth they come, 

To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing saint : 40 

The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wilds 

Of wide Arabia are as thoroughfares now 

For Princes to come view fair Portia ; 

The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 

Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar 45 

To stop the foreign spirits ; but they come, 

As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia. — 

One of these three contains her heavenly picture. 

Is't like that lead contains her ? 'Twere damnation 

To think so base a thought ; it were too gross 50 

To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. 

Or shall I think in silver she's immured, 

Being ten times undervalued to tried gold ? 

O sinful thought ! Never so rich a gem 

Was set in worse than gold. They have in England 55 

A coin that bears the figure of an angel 

Stamped in gold, but that's insculped upon ; 

But here an angel in a golden bed 



38 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sc.vni. 

Lies all within. Deliver me the key : 

Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may ! 60 

For. There, take it, Prince ; and if my form lie there, 

Then I am yours. [He unlocks the golden casket 

Mor. O hell ! what have we here ? 

A carrion death, within whose empty eye 

There is a written scroll ! I'll read the writing. — 

L ' * " All that glisters is not gold, 65 

Often have you heard that told; 
Many a man his life hath sold 
But my outside to behold; 
Gilded tombs do worms infold. 

Had you been as wise as bold, 70 

Young in limbs, in judgment old, 
Your answer had not been inscrolled, 
Fare you well; your suit is cold." 

Cold, indeed, and labor lost ; 

Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost ! 75 

Portia, adieu. I have too grieved a heart 

To take a tedious leave ; thus losers part. 

[Exit with his train. Flourish of cornets. 
Por. A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go. 

Let all of his complexion choose me so. [Exeunt. 

Scene VIII 

Venice. A Street. 
Enter Salarino and Salanio. 

Salarino. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail ; 

With him is Gratiano gone along ; 

And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not. 
Salanio. The villain Jew with outcries raised the Duke, 

Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. 5 



act ii. sc.viii.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 39 

Salar. He came too late, the ship was under sail ; 

But there the Duke was given to understand 

That in a gondola were seen together 

Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. 

Besides, Antonio certified the Duke 10 

They were not with Bassanio in his ship. 
Salmi. I never heard a passion so confused, 

So strange, outrageous, and so variable, 

As the dog Jew did utter in the streets : 

" My daughter! my ducats! my daughter! 15 

Fled with a Christian! my Christian ducats! 

Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! 

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, 

Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter! 

And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, 20 

Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl! 

She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!" 
Salar. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, 

Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats. 
Salan. Let good Antonio look he keep his day, 25 

Or he shall pay for this. 
Salar. Marry, well remembered. 

I reasoned with a Frenchman yesterday, 

Who told me, in the narrow seas that part 

The French and English, there miscarried 

A vessel of our country richly fraught. 30 

I thought upon Antonio when he told me ; 

And wished in silence that it were not his. 
Salan. You were best to tell Antonio what you hear ; 

Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him. 
Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. 35 

I saw Bassanio and Antonio part. 



40 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actii. sc.ix. 

Bassanio told him he would make some speed 

Of his return ; he answered : "Do not so; 

Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, 

But stay the very ri ping of the time; 40 

And for the Jew's bond which he hath of me, 

Let it not enter in your mind of love. 

Be merry ; and employ your chief est thoughts 

To courtship, and such fair ostents of love 

As shall conveniently become you there. " 45 

And even there, his eye being big with tears, 

Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, 

And with affection wondrous sensible 

He wrung Bassanio's hand ; and so they parted. 
Salan. I think he only loves the world for him. 50 

I pray thee, let us go and find him out, 

And quicken his embraced heaviness 

With some delight or other. 
Salar. Do we so. [Exeunt. 

Scene IX 

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 

Enter Nerissa and a Servitor. 

Nerissa. Quick, quick, I pray thee ; draw the curtain 
straight. 
The Prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath, 
And comes to his election presently. 

Flourish of cornets. Enter the Prince of Arragon, 
Portia, and their trains. 

Portia. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble Prince : 

If you choose that wherein I am contained, 5 



act ii. sc ix.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 41 

Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemnised ; 
But if you fail, without more speech, my lord, 
You must be gone from hence immediately. 

Arragon. I am enjoined by oath to observe three things : 
First, never to unfold to any one 10 

Which casket 'twas I chose ; next, if I fail 
Of the right casket, never in my life 
To woo a maid in way of marriage ; 
Lastly, if I do fail in fortune of my choice, 
Immediately to leave you and be gone. 15 

Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear 
That comes to hazard for my worthless self. 

Arra. And so I have addressed me. Fortune now 

To my heart's hope ! Gold, — silver, — and base 

lead. 
" Who chooseth vie must give and hazard all he hath." 20 
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard. 
What says the golden chest ? ha ! let me see : 
" Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." 
What many men desire! that "many" may be 

meant 
By the fool multitude, that choose by show, 25 

Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, — 
Which pries not to th' interior, but, like the martlet, 
Builds in the weather on the outward wall, 
Even in the force and road of casualty. 
I will not choose what many men desire, 30 

Because I will not jump with common spirits, 
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. 
Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house, 
Tell me once more what title thou dost bear : 
" Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." 35 



42 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act n. sc. ix. 

And well said too ; for who should go about 
To cozen fortune, and be honorable 
Without the stamp of merit ? Let none presume 
To wear an undeserved dignity. 

that estates, degrees and offices 40 
Were not derived corruptly, and that clear honor 
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer ! 

How many then should cover that stand bare ! 

How many be commanded that command ! 

How much low peasantry would then be gleaned 45 

From the true seed of honor ! and how much honor 

Picked from the chaff and ruin of the times 

To be new garnished ! Well, but to my choice — 

" Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." 

1 will assume desert. Give me a key for this, 50 
And instantly unlock my fortunes here. 

[He opens the silver casket. 
Tor. [Aside] Too long a pause for that which you find 

there. 
Arra. What's here? — the portrait of a blinking idiot, 

Presenting me a schedule ! I will read it. 

How much unlike art thou to Portia ! 55 

How much unlike my hopes and my deservings ! 

" Who chooseth me shall have as much as he deserves." 

Did I deserve no more than a fool's head ? 

Is that my prize ? are my deserts no better ? 
Por. To offend and judge are distinct offices, 60 

And of opposed natures. 
Arra. What is here? — 

[Reads] 

"The fire seven times tried this; 
Seven times tried that judgment is 



act ii. sc.ix.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 43 

That did never choose amiss. 

Some there be that shadows kiss; 65 

Such have but a shadow's bliss. 

There be fools alive, iwis, 

Silvered o'er: and so was this. 

Take what wife you will to bed, 

I will ever be your head. 70 

So be gone; you are sped." 

Still more fool I shall appear 

By the time I linger here. 

With one fool's head I came to woo, 

But I go away with two. 75 

Sweet, adieu. I'll keep my oath, 

Patiently to bear my wroth. 

[Exeunt Arragon and train. 
For. Thus hath the candle singed the moth. 

O, these deliberate fools ! when they do choose, 

They have the wisdom by their wit to lose. 80 

Ner. The ancient saying is no heresy, 

Hanging and wiving goes by destiny. 
Por. Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa. 

Enter a Servant. 

Servant. Where is my lady? 

Por. Here : what would my lord ? 

Serv. Madam, there is alighted at your gate 85 

A young Venetian, one that comes before 

To signify the approaching of his lord, 

From whom he bringeth sensible regreets ; 

To wit, besides commends and courteous breath, 

Gifts of rich value ; yet I have not seen 90 

So likely an ambassador of love. 

A day in April never came so sweet, 



44 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act n. sc. ix. 

To show how costly summer was at hand, 
As this fore-spurrer comes before his lord. 

Por. No more, I pray thee ; I am half afeared 95 

Thou'lt say anon he is some kin to thee, 
Thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him. 
Come, come, Nerissa ; for I long to see 
Quick Cupid's post that comes so mannerly. 

Ner. Bassanio, Lord Love, if thy will it be ! [Exeunt. 100 



Act Third 
Scene I 

Venice. A Street. 
Enter Salanio and Salarino. 

Salanio. Now, what news on the Rialto ? 

Salarino. Why, yet it lives there unchecked, that An- 
tonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the 
narrow seas, — the Goodwins, I think they call the 
place ; a very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the 5 
carcases of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if 
my gossip Report be an honest woman of her word. 

Salan. I would she were as lying a gossip in that as ever 
knapped ginger, or made her neighbors believe she 
wept for the death of a third husband. But it is 10 
true, without any slips of prolixity, or crossing the 
plain highway of talk, that the good Antonio, the 
honest Antonio, — O that I had a title good enough 
to keep his name company ! — 

Salar. Come, the full stop. 15 

Salan. Ha ! what sayest thou ? Why, the end is, he 
hath lost a ship. 

Salar. I would it might prove the end of his losses. 

Sala?i. Let me say "amen" betimes, lest the devil cross 

my prayer, for here he comes in the likeness of a 20 
Jew. 

45 



46 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sc. i. 

Enter Shylock. 

How now, Shylock ! What news among the merchants ? 

Shylock. You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of 
my daughter's flight. 

Salar. That's certain. I, for my part, knew the tailor 25 
that made the wings she flew withal. 

Salan. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was 
fledged ; and then it is the complexion of them all to 
leave the dam. 

Shy. She is damned for it. 30 

Salar. That's certain, if the devil may be her judge. 

Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel ! 

Salan. Out upon it, old carrion ! rebels it at these years ? 

Shy. I say, my daughter is my flesh and blood. 

Salar. There is more difference between thy flesh and 35 
hers than between jet and ivory ; — more between 
your bloods than there is between red wine and 
Rhenish. But tell us, do you hear whether Antonio 
have had any loss at sea or no ? 

Shy. There I have another bad match ; — a bankrupt, 40 
a prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on the 
Rialto ; — a beggar, that was used to come so smug 
upon the mart ; let him look to his bond. He was 
wont to call me usurer ; let him look to his bond. 
He was wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy ; 45 
let him look to his bond. 

Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take 
his flesh ; what's that good for ? 

Shy. To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it 

will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and 50 
hindered me half a million ; laughed at my losses, 



act in. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 47 

mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted 
my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine ene- 
mies ; and what's his reason ? — / am a Jew. Hath 
not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, 55 
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with 
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, sub- 
ject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, 
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, 
as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed ? 60 
if you tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you poison us, 
do we not die ? and if you wrong us, shall we not 
revenge ? If we are like you in the rest, we will re- 
semble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, 
what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian 65 
wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Chris- 
tian example? Why, revenge. The villany you 
teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard but I 
will better the instruction. 

Enter a Servant. 

Servant. Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his house, 70 

and desires to speak with you both. 
Salar. We have been up and down to seek him. 

Enter Tubal. 

Salan. Here comes another of the tribe. A third cannot 
be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew. 

[Exeunt Salanio, Salarino, with Servant. 

Shy. How now, Tubal ! what news from Genoa ? Hast 75 
thou found my daughter ? 

Tubal. I often came where I did hear of her, but cannot 
find her. 

Shy. Why, there, there, there, there ! a diamond gone, 



48 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sc. i. 

cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort! The 80 
curse never fell upon our nation till now ; I never 
felt it till now. Two thousand ducats in that ; and 
other precious, precious jewels. I would my daugh- 
ter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear ! 
would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats 85 
in her coffin ! No news of them ? — why, so ! and 
I know not what's spent in the search. Why, thou 
loss upon loss ! The thief gone with so much, and so 
much to find the thief ; and no satisfaction, no re- 
venge ; nor no ill luck stirring but what lights on my 90 
shoulders ; no sighs but of my breathing ; no tears 
but of my shedding. 

Tub. Yes, other men have ill luck too. Antonio, as I 
heard in Genoa, — 

Shy. What, what, what? ill luck, ill luck ? 95 

Tub. — hath an argosy cast away, coming from Tripolis. 

Shy. I thank God, I thank God ! Is't true, is't true ? 

Tub. I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped the 
wreck. 

Shy. I thank thee, good Tubal ; good news, good news ! 100 
ha, ha ! here ? — in Genoa ? 

Tub. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, in one 
night fourscore ducats. 

Shy. Thou stick'st a dagger in me. I shall never see my 

gold again ! — Fourscore ducats at a sitting ! four- 105 
score ducats ! 

Tub. There came divers of Antonio's creditors in my 
company to Venice, that swear he cannot choose but 
break. 

Shy. I am very glad of it; I'll plague him ; I'll torture 110 
him ; I am glad of it. 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 49 

Tub. One of them showed me a ring that he had of your 
daughter for a monkey. 

Shy. Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal ; it was 

my turquoise. I had it of Leah when I was a 115 
bachelor ; I would not have given it for a wilderness 
of monkeys. 

Tub. But Antonio is certainly undone. 

Shy. Nay, that's true, that's very true. Go, Tubal, fee 

me an officer; bespeak him a fortnight before. I 120 
will have the heart of him, if he forfeit ; for, were he 
out of Venice, I can make what merchandise I will. 
Go, go, Tubal, and meet me at our synagogue ; go, 
good Tubal ; — at our synagogue, Tubal. [Exeunt. 

Scene II 

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 

Enter Bassanio, Portia, Gratiano, Nerissa, and all 
their trains. 

Portia. I pray you, tarry ; pause a day or two 
Before you hazard ; for, in choosing wrong, 
I lose your company ; therefore forbear awhile. 
There's something tells me — but it is not love — 
I would not lose you ; and you know yourself, 5 

Hate counsels not in such a quality. 
But lest you should not understand me well, — 
And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought, — 
I would detain you here some month or two 
Before you venture for me. I could teach you 10 

How to choose right, but I am then forsworn ; 
So will I never be ; so may you miss me ; 
But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin, 



50 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act m. sen. 

That I had been forsworn. ■ Beshrew your eyes, 

They have o'er-looked me, and divided me ; 15 

One half of me is yours, the other half yours, — 

Mine own, I would say ; but if mine, then yours, 

And so all yours ! O, these naughty times 

Put bars between the owners and their rights ! 

And so, though yours, not yours. — Prove it so, 20 

Let fortune go to hell for it, not I. 

I speak too long ; but 'tis to peize the time, 

To eke it and to draw it out in length, 

To stay you from election. 
Bassanio. Let me choose ; 

For as I am, I live upon the rack. 25 

Por. Upon the rack, Bassanio ! then confess 

What treason there is mingled with your love. 
Bass. None but that ugly treason of mistrust, 

Which makes me fear the enjoying of my love. 

There may as well be amity and life 30 

'Tween snow and fire, as treason and my love. 
Por. Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack, 

Where men enforced do speak any thing. 
Bass. Promise me life, and I'll confess the truth. 
Por. Well then, confess and live. 
Bass. Confess and love, 35 

Had been the very sum of my confession. — 

O happy torment, when my torturer 

Doth teach me answers for deliverance ! 

But let me to my fortune and the caskets. 
Por. Away, then ! I am locked in one of them ; 40 

If you do love me, you will find me out. 

Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof. 

Let music sound while he doth make his choice ; 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 51 

Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, 
Fading in music. That the comparison 45 

May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream 
And watery death-bed for him. He may win ; 
And what is music then ? Then music is 
Even as the flourish when true subjects bow 
To a new-crowned monarch ; such it is 50 

As are those dulcet sounds in break of day 
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear, 
And summon him to marriage. Now he goes, 
With no less presence, but with much more love, 
Than young Alcides, when he did redeem 55 

The virgin tribute paid by howling Troy 
To the sea-monster. I stand for sacrifice ; 
The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives, 
With bleared visages, come forth to view 
The issue of the exploit. Go, Hercules ! 60 

Live thou, I live. With much much more dismay 
I view the fight than thou that makes t the fray. 
Music. 

A song the whilst Bassanio comments on the caskets to 
himself. 

Song. 
Tell me where is fancy bred, 
Or in the heart or in the head; 
How begot, how nourished ; 65 

Reply, reply. 
It is engendered in the eyes, 
With gazing fed; and fancy dies 
In the cradle where it lies. 

Let us all ring fancy's knell: 70 

I'll begin it, — Ding, dong, bell. 
All. Ding, dong, bell. 



52 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sen. 

Bass. So may the outward shows be least themselves. 
The world is still deceived with ornament. 
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, 75 

But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, 
Obscures the show of evil ? In religion, 
What damned error, but some sober brow 
Will bless it, and approve it with a text, 
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? 80 

There is no vice so simple, but assumes 
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts. 
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false 
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins 
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, 85 

Who, inward searched, have livers white as milk ; 
And these assume but valor's excrement 
To render them redoubted. Look on beauty, 
And you shall see 'tis purchased by the weight, 
Which therein works a miracle in nature, 90 

Making them lightest that wear most of it ; 
So are those crisped snaky golden locks 
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, 
Upon supposed fairness, often known 
To be the dowry of a second head, 95 

The skull that bred them, in the sepulchre. 
Thus ornament is but the guiled shore 
To a most dangerous sea, — the beauteous scarf 
Veiling an Indian ; beauty, in a word, 
The seeming truth which cunning times put on 100 

To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold, 
Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee ; 
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge 
'Tween man and man ; but thou, thou meager lead, 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 53 

Which rather threatenest than dost promise aught, 105 
Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence ; 
And here choose I. — Joy be the consequence ! 
For. [Aside] How all the other passions fleet to air, 
As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair, 
And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy ! 1 10 

love, be moderate, allay thy ecstasy, 

In measure rain thy joy, scant this excess ! 

1 feel too much thy blessing ; make it less, 
For fear I surfeit ! 

Bass. What find I here ? 

[Opening the leaden casket. 
Fair Portia's counterfeit ! What demi-god 115 

Hath come so near creation ? Move these eyes ? 
Or whether, riding on the balls of mine, 
Seem they in motion ? Here are severed lips, 
Parted with sugar breath, — so sweet a bar 
Should sunder such sweet friends. Here in her hairs 120 
The painter plays the spider, and hath woven 
A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men 
Faster than gnats in cobwebs ; but her eyes, — 
How could he see to do them ? having made one, 
Methinks it should have power to steal both his 125 

And leave itself unfurnished. Yet look, how far 
The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow 
In underprizing it, so far this shadow 
Doth limp behind the substance. Here's the scroll, 
The continent and summary of my fortune. 130 

[Reads] You that choose not by the view, 
Chance as fair, and choose as true, 
Since this fortune falls to you, 
Be content and seek no new. 



54 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sen. 

7/ you be well pleased with this, 135 

And hold your fortune for your bliss, 
Turn you where your lady is, 
And claim her with a loving kiss. 

A gentle scroll. Fair lady, by your leave ; 
: I come by note, to give and to receive. 140 

Like one of two contending in a prize, 
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes, 
Hearing applause and universal shout, 
Giddy in spirit, still gazing in a doubt 
Whether those peals of praise be his or no, 145 

So, thrice-fair lady, stand I, even so ; 
As doubtful whether what I see be true, 
Until confirmed, signed, ratified by you. 
Por. You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand, 

Such as I am. Though for myself alone 150 

I would not be ambitious in my wish 

To wish myself much better ; yet, for you, 

I would be trebled twenty times myself ; 

A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times 

More rich, that only to stand high in your account, 155 

I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, 

Exceed account. But the full sum of me 

Is sum of nothing, which, to term in gross, 

Is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised ; 

Happy in this, she is not yet so old 160 

But she may learn ; happier than this, 

She is not bred so dull but she can learn ; 

Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit 

Commits itself to yours to be directed, 

As from her lord, her governor, her king. 165 

Myself, and what is mine, to you and yours 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 55 

Is now converted. But now I was the lord 

Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 

Queen o'er myself ; and even now, but now, 

This house, these servants, and this same myself, 170 

Are yours, my lord ; I give them with this ring ; 

Which when you part from, lose, or give away, 

Let it presage the ruin of your love, 

And be my vantage to exclaim on you. 

Bass. Madam, you have bereft me of all words, 175 

Only my blood speaks to you in my veins ; 
And there is such confusion in my powers, 
As, after some oration fairly spoke 
By a beloved Prince, there doth appear 
Among the buzzing, pleased multitude ; 180 

Where every something, being blent together, 
Turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy, 
Expressed and not expressed. But when this ring 
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence ; 
O, then be bold to say Bassanio's dead. 185 

Nerissa. My lord and lady, it is now our time, 

That have stood by and seen our wishes prosper, 
To cry, good joy. Good joy, my lord and lady ! 

Gratiano. My lord Bassanio and my gentle lady, 

I wish you all the joy that you can wish ; 190 

For I am sure you can wish none from me ; 
And when your honors mean to solemnise 
The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you, 
Even at that time I may be married too. 

Bass. With all my heart, so thou canst get a wife. 195 

Gra. I thank your lordship, you have got me one. 
My eyes, my lord, can look as swift as yours. 
You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid ; 



56 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actiii. sc. ii. 

You loved, I loved, for intermission 

No more pertains to me, my lord, than you. 200 

Your fortune stood upon the casket there, 

And so did mine too, as the matter falls ; 

For wooing here until I sweat again, 

And swearing till my very roof was dry 

With oaths of love, at last, if promise last, 205 

I got a promise of this fair one here 

To have her love, provided that your fortune 

Achieved her mistress. 
Por. Is this true, Nerissa? 

Ner. Madam, it is, so you stand pleased withal. 
Bass. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith ? 210 

Gra. Yes, faith, my lord. 
Bass. Our feast shall be much honored in your 

marriage. 
Gra. But who comes here ? Lorenzo and his infidel ? 

What, and my old Venetian friend Salerio ? 

Enter Lorenzo, Jessica, and Salerio. 

Bass. Lorenzo and Salerio, welcome hither, 215 

If that the youth of my new interest here 

Have power to bid you welcome. By your leave, 

I bid my very friends and countrymen, 

Sweet Portia, welcome. 
Por. So do I, my lord ; 

They are entirely welcome. 220 

Lorenzo. I thank your honor. For my part, my lord, 

My purpose was not to have seen you here ; 

But meeting with Salerio by the way, 

He did entreat me, past all saying nay, 

To come with him along. 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 57 

Salerio. I did, my lord ; 225 

And I have reason for it. Signior Antonio 
Commends him to you. [Gives Bassanio a letter. 

Bass. Ere I ope his letter, 

I pray you, tell me how my good friend doth. 

Sahr. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind ; 

Nor well, unless in mind. His letter there 230 

Will show you his estate. 

[Bassanio opens the letter. 

Gra. Nerissa, cheer yon stranger ; bid her welcome. 
Your hand, Salerio ; what's the news from Venice ? 
How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio ? 
I know he will be glad of our success ; 235 

We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece. 

Salcr. I would you had won the fleece that he hath lost. 

Por. There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper, 
That steals the color from Bassanio's cheek, — 
Some dear friend dead ; else nothing in the world 240 
Could turn so much the constitution 
Of any constant man. What, worse and worse ! 
— With leave, Bassanio ; I am half yourself, 
And I must freely have the half of anything 
That this same paper brings you. 

Bass. O sweet Portia, 245 

Here are a few of the unpleasant' st words 
That ever blotted paper. Gentle lady, 
When I did first impart my love to you, 
I freely told you, all the wealth I had 
Ran in my veins : I was a gentleman. 250 

And then I told you true ; and yet, dear lady, 
Rating myself at nothing, you shall see 
How much I was a braggart. When I told you 



58 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actiii. sc. ii. 

My state was nothing, I should then have told 

you 
That I was worse than nothing ; for, indeed, 255 

I have engaged myself to a dear friend, 
Engaged my friend to his mere enemy, 
To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady, — 
The paper as the body of my friend, 
And every word in it a gaping wound 260 

Issuing life-blood. But is it true, Salerio? 
Have all his ventures failed ? What, not one hit ? 
From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England, 
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India ? 
And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch 265 

Of merchant-marring rocks ? 

Saler. Not one, my lord. 

Besides, it should appear, that if he had 
The present money to discharge the Jew, 
He would not take it. Never did I know 
A creature that did bear the shape of man 270 

So keen and greedy to confound a man. 
He plies the Duke at morning and at night, 
And doth impeach the freedom of the state, 
If they deny him justice. Twenty merchants, 
The Duke himself, and the magnificoes 275 

Of greatest port, have all persuaded with him ; 
But none can drive him from the envious plea 
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond. 

Jessica. When I was with him I have heard him swear 

To Tubal and to Chus, his countrymen, 280 

That he would rather have Antonio's flesh 
Than twenty times the value of the sum 
That he did owe him ; and I know, my lord, 



act in. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 59 

If law, authority, and power deny not, 

It will go hard with poor Antonio. 285 

Por. Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble ? 
Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, 

The best-conditioned and unwearied spirit 

In doing courtesies ; and one in whom 

The ancient Roman honor more appears 290 

Than any that draws breath in Italy. 
Por. What sum owes he the Jew ? 
Bass. For me three thousand ducats. 
Por. What, no more ? 

Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond ; 

Double six thousand and then treble that, 295 

Before a friend of this description 

Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault. 

First go with me to church, and call me wife, 

And then away to Venice to your friend ; 

For never shall you lie by Portia's side 300 

With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold 

To pay the petty debt twenty times over ; 

When it is paid, bring your true friend along. 

My maid Nerissa and myself meantime 

Will live as maids and widows. Come, away ! 305 

For you shall hence upon your wedding-day. 

Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer ; 

Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear. 

But let me hear the letter of your friend. 

Bass. [Reads] 

Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my 310 
creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to 
the Jew is forfeit; and since in paying it, it is im- 



60 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sc. in. 

possible I should live, all debts are cleared between you 
and I, if I might but see you at my death. Notwith- 
standing, use your pleasure; if your love do not per- 315 
suade you to come, let not my letter. 

Por. O love, dispatch all business and be gone ! 

Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away, 
I will make haste ; but, till I come again, 
No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay, 320 

No rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. [Exeunt. 

Scene III 

Venice. A Street. 
Enter Shylock and Salarino, Antonio, and the Gaoler. 

Shylock. Gaoler, look to him. Tell not me of mercy ; 
This is the fool that lent out money gratis. 
Gaoler, look to him. 

Antonio. Hear me yet, good Shylock. 

Shy. I'll have my bond ; speak not against my bond. 

I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. 5 

Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause ; 

But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs. 

The Duke shall grant me justice. I do wonder, 

Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond 

To come abroad with him at his request. 10 

Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak. 

Shy. I'll have my bond ; I will not hear thee speak. 
I'll have my bond ; and therefore speak no more 
I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, 
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield 15 

To Christian intercessors. Follow not ; 
I'll have no speaking ; I will have my bond. [Exit. 



act in. sc.iv.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 61 

Salarhw. It is the most impenetrable cur 
That ever kept with men. 

Ant. Let him alone; 

I'll follow him no more with bootless prayers 20 

He seeks my life ; his reason well I know : 

I oft delivered from his forfeitures 

Many that have at times made moan to me ; 

Therefore he hates me. 

Salar. I am sure the Duke 

Will never grant this forfeiture to hold. 25 

Ant. The Duke cannot deny the course of law ; 
For the commodity that strangers have 
With us in Venice, if it be denied, 
Will much impeach the justice of his state, 
Since that the trade and profit of the city 30 

Consisteth of all nations. Therefore, go. 
These griefs and losses have so 'bated me, 
That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh 
To-morrow to my bloody creditor. 

Well, gaoler, on. Pray God, Bassanio come 35 

To see me pay his debt, and then I care not ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene IV 

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 

Enter Portia, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Jessica, and Balthasar. 

Lorenzo. Madam, although I speak it in your presence, 
You have a noble and a true conceit 
Of god-like amity ; which appears most strongly 
In bearing thus the absence of your lord. 
But if you knew to whom you show this honor, 5 



62 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actiii. bc.it. 

How true a gentleman you send relief, 

How dear a lover of my lord your husband, 

I know you would be prouder of the work 

Than customary bounty can enforce you. 
Por. I never did repent for doing good, 10 

Nor shall not now ; for in companions 

That do converse and waste the time together, 

Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love, 

There must needs be a like proportion 

Of lineaments, of manners and of spirit ; 15 

Which makes me think that this Antonio, 

Being the bosom lover of my lord, 

Must needs be like my lord. If it be so, 

How little is the cost I have bestowed 

In purchasing the semblance of my soul 20 

From out the state of hellish cruelty ! 

This comes too near the praising of myself ; 

Therefore no more of it. Hear other things : 

Lorenzo, I commit into your hands 

The husbandry and manage of my house 25 

Until my lord's return ; for mine own part, 

I have toward heaven breathed a secret vow 

To live in prayer and contemplation, 

Only attended by Nerissa here, 

Until her husband and my lord's return. 30 

There is a monastery two miles off ; 

And there will we abide. I do desire you 

Not to deny this imposition, 

The which my love and some necessity 

Now lays upon you. 
Lor. Madam, with all my heart 35 

I shall obey you in all fair commands. 



act in. sc.iv.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 63 

Por. My people do already know my mind, «■ 

And will acknowledge you and Jessica 

In place of Lord Bassanio and myself. 

So fare you well, till we shall meet again. 40 

Lor. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you ! 
Jes. I wish your ladyship all heart's content. 
Por. I thank you for your wish, and am well pleased 

To wish it back on you. Fare you well, Jessica. 

[Exeunt Jessica and Lorenzo. 

Now, Balthasar, as I have ever found thee honest 

true, 45 

So let me find thee still. Take this same letter, 

And use thou all the endeavor of a man 

In speed to Padua ; see thou render this 

Into my cousin's hand, Doctor Bellario ; 

And look what notes and garments he doth give thee, 50 

Bring them, I pray thee, with imagined speed 

Unto the traject, to the common ferry 

Which trades to Venice. Waste no time in words, 

But get thee gone ; I shall be there before thee. 
Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient speed. [Exit 55 
Por. Come on, Nerissa ; I have work in hand 

That you yet know not of. We'll see our husbands 

Before they think of us. 
Ner. Shall they see us ? 

Por. They shall, Nerissa ; but in such a habit, 

That they shall think we are accomplished 60 

With that we lack. I'll hold thee any wager, 

W T hen we are both accoutred like young men, 

I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two, 

And wear my dagger with a braver grace ; 

And speak between the change of man and boy 65 



64 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act in. sc. v. 

With a reed voice, and turn two mincing steps 

Into a manly stride ; and speak of frays 

Like a fine bragging youth ; and tell quaint lies, 

How honorable ladies sought my love, 

Which I denying, they fell sick and died, — 70 

I could not do withal ; then I'll repent, 

And wish, for all that, that I had not killed them ; 

And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell, 

That men shall swear I have discontinued school 

Above a twelvemonth. I have within my mind 75 

A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks, 

Which I will practice. 

Ner. Why, shall we turn to men ? 

Por. Fie, what a question's that ! . . . 

But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device 

When I am in my coach, which stays for us 80 

At the park gate ; and therefore haste away, 

For we must measure twenty miles to-day. 

[Exeunt. 
Scene V 

The Same. A Garden. 
Enter Launcelot and Jessica. 

Launcelot. Yes, truly ; for, look you, the sins of the 
father are to be laid upon the children ; therefore, I 
promise ye, I fear you. I was always plain with you, 
and so now I speak my agitation of the matter. 
Therefore be of good cheer ; for, truly, I think you 5 
are damned. There is but one hope in it that can do 
you any good ; and that is but a kind of bastard hope 
neither. 

Jessica. And what hope is that, I pray thee ? 



act in. so. v.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 65 

Laun. Marry, you may partly hope that your father 10 
got you not, that you are not the Jew's daughter. 

Jes. That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed, so the 
sins of my mother should be visited upon me. 

Laun. Truly then I fear you are damned both by father 

and mother. Thus when I shun Scylla, your 15 
father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother. Well, 
you are gone both ways. 

Jes. I shall be saved by my husband ; he hath made me 
a Christian. 

Laun. Truly, the more to blame he. We were Chris- 20 
tians enow before ; e'en as many as could well live, 
one by another. This making of Christians will 
raise the price of hogs. If we grow all to be pork- 
eaters, we shall not shortly have a rasher on the coals 
for money. 25 

Enter Lorenzo. 

Jes. I'll tell my husband, Launcelot, what you say. 
Here he comes. 

Lorenzo. I shall grow jealous of you shortly, Launcelot, 
if you thus get my wife into corners. 

Jes. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo ; Launcelot and 30 
I are out. He tells me flatly, there is no mercy for 
me in heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter ; and 
he says you are no good member of the common- 
wealth, for, in converting Jews to Christians, you 
raise the price of pork. ... 35 

Lor. I think the best grace of wit will shortly turn into 
silence, and discourse grow commendable in none 
only but parrots. Go in, sirrah ; bid them prepare 
for dinner. 



66 MERCHANT OF VENICE [actiii. sc. v. 

Laun. That is done, sir ; they have all stomachs. 40 

Lor. Goodly Lord, what a wit-snapper are you ! Then 
bid them prepare dinner. 

Laun. That is done too, sir ; only cover is the word. 

Lor. Will you cover, then, sir? 

Laun. Not so, sir, neither ; I know my duty. 45 

Lor. Yet more quarrelling with occasion ! Wilt thou 
show the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant ? I 
pray thee, understand a plain man in his plain 
meaning. Go to thy fellows ; bid them cover the 
table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to 50 
dinner. 

Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be served in ; for the 
meat, sir, it shall be covered ; for your coming in to 
dinner, sir, why, let it be as humors and conceits shall 
govern. [Exit. 55 

Lor. O dear discretion, how his words are suited ! 
The fool hath planted in his memory 
An army of good words ; and I do know 
A many fools, that stand in better place, 
Garnished like him, that for a tricksy word 60 

Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou, Jessica? 
And now, good sweet, say thy opinion, 
How dost thou like the Lord Bassanio's wife ? 

Jes. Past all expressing. It is very meet 

The Lord Bassanio live an upright life ; 65 

For, having such a blessing in his lady, 

He finds the joys of heaven here on earth ; 

And if on earth he do not mean it, then 

In reason he should never come to heaven. 

Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match 70 

And on the wager lay two earthly women, 



act in. sc.v.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 67 

And Portia one, there must be something else 

Pawned with the other, for the poor rude world 

Hath not her fellow. 
Lor. Even such a husband 

Hast thou of me as she is for a wife. 75 

Jes. Nay, but ask my opinion, too, of that. 
Lor. I will anon ; first, let us go to dinner. 
Jes. Nay, let me praise you while I have a stomach. 
Lor. No, pray thee, let it serve for table-talk ; 

Then, howsome'er thou speak'st, 'mong other things 80 

I shall digest it. 
Jes. Well, I'll set you forth. [Exeunt. 



Act Fourth 
Scene I 

Venice. The Court of Justice. 

Enter the Duke, the Magnificoes, Antonio, Bassanio, 
Gratiano, Salerio, and others. 

Duke. What, is Antonio here ? 

Antonio. Ready, so please your Grace. 

Duke. I am sorry for thee ; thou art come to answer 

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch 

Uncapable of pity, void and empty 5 

From any dram of mercy. 
Ant. I have heard 

Your Grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify 

His rigorous course ; but since he stands obdurate, 

And that no lawful means can carry me 

Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose 10 

My patience to his fury, and am armed 

To suffer with a quietness of spirit 

The very tyranny and rage of his. 
Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. 
Salerio. He is ready at the door; he comes, my lord. 15 

Enter Shylock. 

Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face. 
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, 
That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice 
68 



act iv. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 69 

To the last hour of act ; and then 'tis thought 
Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange 20 
Than is thy strange apparent cruelty ; 
And where thou now exact'st the penalty, 
Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh, 
Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture, 
But touched with human gentleness and love, 25 

Forgive a moiety of the principal ; 
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses 
That have of late so huddled on his back, 
Enow to press a royal merchant down, 
And pluck commiseration of his state 30 

From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint, 
From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never trained 
To offices of tender courtesy. 
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew. 
Shylock. I have possessed your Grace of what I purpose ; 35 
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn 
To have the due and forfeit of my bond. 
If you deny it, let the danger light 
Upon your charter and your city's freedom. 
You'll ask me why I rather choose to have 40 

A weight of carrion-flesh than to receive 
Three thousand ducats ; I'll not answer that, 
But, say, it is my humor. Is it answered ? 
What if my house be troubled with a rat, 
And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats 45 

To have it baned ? What, are you answered yet ? 
Some men there are love not a gaping pig ; 
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat. . . . 

For affection, 
Master of passion, sways it to the mood 50 



70 MERCHANT OF VENICE [activ. sc. i. 

Of what it likes or loathes. 

Now, for your answer, 

As there is no firm reason to be rendered, 

Why he cannot abide a gaping pig, 

Why he, a harmless necessary cat ; 55 

So can I give no reason, nor I will not, 

More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing 

I bear Antonio, that I follow thus 

A losing suit against him. Are you answered ? 

Bassanio. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, 60 

To excuse the current of thy cruelty. 

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer. 

Bass. Do all men kill the things they do not love? 

Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill ? 

Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first. 65 

Shy. What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee 
twice ? 

Ant. I pray you, think you question with the Jew. 
You may as well go stand upon the beach, 
And bid the main flood 'bate his usual height ; 
You may as well use question with the wolf, 70 

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ; 
You may as well forbid the mountain pines 
To wag their high tops and to make no noise, 
When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven ; 
You may as well do any thing most hard, 75 

As seek to soften that — than which what's 

harder ? — 
His Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you, 
Make no more offers, use no farther means, 
But with all brief and plain conveniency 
Let me have judgment and the Jew his will. 80 



act iv. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 71 

Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six. 

Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats 
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, 
I would not draw them ; I would have my bond. 

Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none ? 85 

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong ? 
Y ou have among you many a purchased slave, 
Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules, 
You use in abject and in slavish parts, 
Because you bought them. Shall I say to you, 90 

Let them be free, marry them to your heirs f 
Why sweat they under burthens ? let their beds 
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates 
Be seasoned ivith such viands f You will answer 
The slaves are ours. So do I answer you. 95 

The pound of flesh, which I demand of him, 
Is dearly bought ; 'tis mine, and I will have it. 
If you deny me, fie upon your law ! 
There is no force in the decrees of Venice. 
I stand for judgment ; answer, shall I have it ? 100 

Duke. Upon my power I may dismiss this court, 
Unless Bellario, a learned Doctor, 
Whom I have sent for to determine this, 
Come here to-day. 

Saler. My lord, here stays without 

A messenger with letters from the Doctor, 105 

New come from Padua. 

Duke. Bring us the letters ; call the messenger. 

Bass. Good cheer, Antonio ! What, man, courage yet ! 
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, 
Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. no 

Ant. I am a tainted wether of the flock, 



72 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act iv. sc.i. 

Meetest for death. The weakest kind of fruit 

Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me. 

You cannot better be employed, Bassanio, 

Than to live still, and write mine epitaph. 115 

Enter Nerissa, dressed like a lawyer's clerk. 

Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario ? 
Nerissa. From both, my lord. Bellario greets your 
Grace. [Presenting a letter. 

Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly ? 
Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there. 
Gratiano. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, 120 

Thou makest thy knife keen ; but no metal can, 

No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness 

Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee ? 
Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make. 
Gra. O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog ! 125 

And for thy life let justice be accused. 

Thou almost makest me waver in my faith, 

To hold opinion with Pythagoras, 

That souls of animals infuse themselves 

Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit 130 

Governed a wolf, who hanged for human slaughter, 

Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, 

And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallowed dam, 

Infused itself in thee ; for thy desires 

Are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous. 135 

Shy. Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond, 

Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud. 

Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall 

To cureless ruin. I stand here for law. 
Duke. This letter from Bellario doth commend 140 



act iv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 73 

A young and learned Doctor to our Court. 

Where is he ? 
Ner. He attendeth here hard by 

To know your answer, whether you'll admit him. 
Duke. With all my heart. Some three or four of you 

Go give him courteous conduct to this place. 145 

Meantime the Court shall hear Bellario's letter. 

Clerk. [Reads] 

Your Grace shall understand that at the receipt of your 
letter I am very sick ; but in the instant that your mes- 
senger came, in loving visitation ivas with me a young 
Doctor of Rome , hisnameisBalthasar. I acquainted 150 
him with the cause in controversy between the Jew and 
Antonio the merchant. We turned o'er many books 
together; he is furnished with my opinion, which, 
bettered with his own learning, — the greatness 
whereof I cannot enough commend, — comes with him, 155 
at my importunity, to fill up your Grace's request in 
my stead. I beseech you, let his lack of years be no 
impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation ; fori 
never knew so young a body with so old a head. I 
leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall 1 60 
better publish his commendation. 

Duke. You hear the learned Bellario, what he writes : 
And here, I take it, is the Doctor come. 

Enter Portia, for Balthasar. 

Give me your hand. Came you from old Bellario ? 

Portia. I did, my lord. 

Duke. You are welcome ; take your place. 165 

Are you acquainted with the difference 
That holds this present question in the court ? 



74 MERCHANT OF VENICE [activ. sc. i. 

Por. I am informed throughly of the cause. 

Which is the merchant here ? and which the Jew ? 

Duke. Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth. 170 

Por. Is your name Shylock ? 

Shy. Shylock is my name. 

Por. Of a strange nature is the suit you follow, 
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law 
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed. 
You stand within his danger, do you not ? 175 

Ant. Ay, so he says. 

Por. Do you confess the bond ? 

Ant. I do. 

Por. Then must the Jew be merciful. 

Shy. On what compulsion must I ? tell me that. 

Por. The quality of mercy is not strained ; 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 180 

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest : 

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. 

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown. 

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 185 

The attribute to awe and majesty, 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 

But mercy is above this sceptred sway ; 

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings ; 

It is an attribute to God himself ; 190 

And earthly power doth then show likes t God's 

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 

Though justice be thy plea, consider this, 

That, in the course of justice, none of us 

Should see salvation ; we do pray for mercy ; 195 

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 



act iv. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 75 

The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much 

To mitigate the justice of thy plea, 

Which if thou follow, this strict Court of Venice 

Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. 200 
Shy. My deeds upon my head ! I crave the law, 

The penalty and forfeit of my bond. 
Por. Is he not able to discharge the money ? 
Bass. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court ; 

Yea, twice the sum. If that will not suffice, 205 

I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er, 

On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart. 

If this will not suffice, it must appear 

That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, 

Wrest once the law to your authority ; 210 

To do a great right, do a little wrong, 

And curb this cruel devil of his will. 
Por. It must not be ; there is no power in Venice 

Can alter a decree established. 

'Twill be recorded for a precedent, 215 

And many an error, by the same example, 

Will rush into the state ; it cannot be. 
Shy. A Daniel come to judgment ! yea, a Daniel ! 

O wise young judge, how I do honor thee ! 
Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond. 220 

Shy. Here 'tis, most reverend Doctor, here it is. 
Por. Shy lock, there's thrice thy money offered thee. 
Shy. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven ! 

Shall I lay perjury upon my soul ? 

No, not for Venice. 
Por. Why, this bond is forfeit ; 225 

And lawfully by this the Jew may claim 

A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off 



76 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act iv. sc. i. 

Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful ; 

Take thrice thy money ; bid me tear the bond. 
Shy. When it is paid according to the tenor. 230 

It doth appear you are a worthy judge ; 

You know the law, your exposition 

Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law, 

Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, 

Proceed to judgment. By my soul I swear 235 

There is no power in the tongue of man 

To alter me ; I stay here on my bond. 
Ant. Most heartily I do beseech the court 

To give the judgment. 
Por. Why then, thus it is : 

You must prepare your bosom for his knife. — 240 

Shy. O noble judge ! O excellent young man ! 
Por. For the intent and purpose of the law 

Hath full relation to the penalty, 

W T hich here appeareth due upon the bond. — 
Shy. 'Tis very true. O wise and upright judge ! 245 

How much more elder art thou than thy looks ! 
Por. Therefore lay bare your bosom. 
Shy. Ay, his breast : 

So says the bond, — doth it not, noble judge ? — 

"Nearest his heart" ; — those are the very words. 
Por. It is so. Are there balance here to weigh 250 

The flesh? 
Shy. I have them ready. 

Por. Have by some surgeon, Shy lock, on your charge, 

To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. 
Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond ? 
Por. It is not so expressed ; but what of that ? 255 

'Twere good you do so much for charity. 



act iv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 77 

Shy. I cannot find it ; 'tis not in the bond. 
Por. You, merchant, have you anything to say? 
Ant. But little : I am armed and well prepared. 

Give me your hand, Bassanio ; fare you well ! 260 

Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you ; 

For herein Fortune shows herself more kind 

Than is her custom. It is still her use 

To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, 

To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow 265 

An age of poverty ; from which lingering penance 

Of such misery doth she cut me off. 

Commend me to your honorable wife. 

Tell her the process of Antonio's end ; 

Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death ; 270 

And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge 

Whether Bassanio had not once a love. 

Repent but you that you shall lose your friend, 

And he repents not that he pays your debt ; 

For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 275 

I'll pay it instantly with all my heart. 
Bass. Antonio, I am married to a wife 

Which is as dear to me as life itself ; 

But life itself, my wife, and all the world, 

Are not with me esteemed above thy life. 280 

I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all 

Here to this devil, to deliver you. 
Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, 

If she were by, to hear you make the offer. 
Gra. I have a wife, whom, I protest, I love ; 285 

I would she were in heaven, so she could 

Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. 
Ner. 'Tis well you offer it behind her back ; 

The wish would make else an unquiet house. 



78 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act iv. sc.i. 

Shy. [Aside] These be the Christian husbands. I have 

a daughter ; 290 

Would any of the stock of Barrabas 

Had been her husband rather than a Christian ! 

We trifle time ; I pray thee pursue sentence. 
Por. A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine ; 

The Court awards it, and the law doth give it. — 295 
Shy. Most rightful judge ! 
Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his breast ; 

The law allows it, and the Court awards it. 
Shy. Most learned judge ! A sentence ! Come, prepare ! 
Por. Tarry a little ; there is something else. ■ 300 

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ; 

The words expressly are "a pound of flesh." 

Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh ; 

But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed 

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods 305 

Are by the laws of Venice confiscate 

Unto the state of Venice. 
Gra. O upright judge ! Mark, Jew ; O learned judge ! 
Shy. Is that the law ? 
Por. Thyself shall see the act ; 

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured 310 

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest. 
Gra. O learned judge ! Mark, Jew ; a learned judge ! 
Shy. I take this offer, then ; pay the bond thrice, 

And let the Christian go. 
Bass. Here is the money. 

Por. Soft! The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no 

haste ! 315 

He shall have nothing but the penalty. 
Gra. O Jew, an upright judge I a learned judge ! 



act iv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 79 

Por. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh. 

Shed thou no blood ; nor cut thou less nor more 

But just a pound of flesh. If thou cut'st more 320 

Or less than a just pound, be it but so much 

As makes it light or heavy in the substance, 

Or the division, of the twentieth part 

Of one poor scruple ; nay, if the scale do turn 

But in the estimation of a hair, 325 

Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate. 

Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew ! 
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip. 

Por. Why doth the Jew pause ? Take thy forfeiture. 

Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go. 330 

Bass. I have it ready for thee ; here it is. 

Por. He hath refused it in the open Court ; 
He shall have merely justice and his bond. 

Gra. A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel ! 

I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. 335 

Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal ? 

Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, 
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. 

Shy. Why, then the devil give him good of it ! 
I'll stay no longer question. 

Por. Tarry, Jew. 340 

The law hath yet another hold on you. 
It is enacted in the laws of Venice, 
If it be proved against an alien 
That by direct or indirect attempts 
He seek the life of any citizen, 345 

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive 
Shall seize one half his goods, the other half 
Comes to the privy coffer of the state, 



80 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act iv. sc. i. 

And the offender's life lies in the mercy 

Of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice ; 350 

In which predicament, I say, thou stand'st. 

For it appears by manifest proceeding 

That indirectly, and directly too, 

Thou hast contrived against the very life 

Of the defendant ; and thou hast incurred 355 

The danger formerly by me rehearsed. 

Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke. 
Gra. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself ; 

And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, 

Thou hast not left the value of a cord ; 360 

Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's charge. 
Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit, 

I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it. 

For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's ; 

The other half comes to the general state, 365 

Which humbleness may drive unto a fine. 
Por. Ay, for the state, not for Antonio. 
Shy. Nay, take my life and all ; pardon not that. 

You take my house, when you do take the prop 

That doth sustain my house ; you take my life, 370 

When you do take the means whereby I live, 
Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio ? 
Gra. A halter gratis ; nothing else, for God's sake. 
Ant. So please my lord the Duke and all the court 

To quit the fine for one half of his goods, 375 

I am content ; so he will let me have 

The other half in use, to render it, 

Upon his death, unto the gentleman 

That lately stole his daughter. 

Two things provided more : that, for this favor, 380 



act iv. sci.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 81 

He presently become a Christian ; 

The other, that he do record a gift 

Here in the Court, of all he dies possessed, 

Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter. 
Duke. He shall do this, or else I do recant 385 

The pardon that I late pronounced here. 
Por. Art thou contented, Jew ? What dost thou say ? 
Shy. I am content. 

Por. Clerk, draw a deed of gift. 

Shy. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence ; 

I am not well. Send the deed after me, 390 

And I will sign it. 
Duke. Get thee gone, but do it. 

Gra. In christening shalt thou have two godfathers. 

Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more, 

To bring thee to the gallows, not the font. 

[Exit Shylock. 
Duke. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner. 395 

Por. I humbly do desire your Grace of pardon ; 

I must away this night toward Padua, 

And it is meet I presently set forth. 
Duke. I am sorry that your leisure serves you not. 

Antonio, gratify this gentleman, 400 

For, in my mind, you are much bound to him. 

[Exeunt Duke and his train. 
Bass. Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend 

Have by your wisdom been this day acquitted 

Of grievous penalties ; in lieu whereof, 

Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew, 405 

We freely cope your courteous pains withal. 
Ant. And stand indebted, over and above, 

In love and service to you evermore. 



82 MERCHANT OF VENICE [activ. sc. i. 

Por. He is well paid that is well satisfied ; 

And I, delivering you, am satisfied, 410 

And therein do account myself well paid ; 

My mind was never yet more mercenary. 

I pray you, know me when we meet again ; 

I wish you well, and so I take my leave. 
Bass. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further. 415 

Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, 

Not as a fee ; grant me two things, I pray you, 

Not to deny me, and to pardon me. 
Por. You press me far, and therefore I will yield. 

[To Antonio] Give me your gloves, I'll wear them 

for your sake ; 420 

[To Bassanio] And, for your love, I'll take this ring 
from you. 

Do not draw back your hand ; I'll take no more ; 

And you in love shall not deny me this. 
Bass. This ring, good sir, alas, it is a trifle ! 

I will not shame myself to give you this. 425 

Por. I will have nothing else but only this ; 

And now, methinks, I have a mind to it. 
Bass. There's more depends on this than on the value. 

The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, 

And find it out by proclamation ; 430 

Only for this, I pray you, pardon me. 
Por. I see, sir, you are liberal in offers. 

You taught me first to beg ; and now methinks 

You teach me how a beggar should be answered. 
Bass. Good sir, this ring was given me by my wife ; 435 

And when she put it on, she made me vow 

That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it. 
Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts. 



act iv. sen.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 83 

And if your wife be not a mad woman, 

And know how well I have deserved the ring, 440 

She would not hold out enemy for ever, 

For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you ! 

[Exeunt Portia and Nerissa. 
Ant. My Lord Bassanio, let him have the ring : . 

Let his deservings and my love withal 

Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandment. 445 

Bass. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him ; 

Give him the ring ; and bring him, if thou canst 

Unto Antonio's house. Away ! make haste. 

[Exit Gratiano. 

Come, you and I will thither presently ; 

And in the morning early will we both 450 

Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio. [Exeunt. 

Scene II 

The same. A Street. 

Enter Portia and Nerissa. . 

Portia. Inquire the Jew's house out ; give him this deed, 
And let him sign it. We'll away to-night 
And be a day before our husbands home. 
This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo. 

Enter Gratiano. 

Gratiano. Fair sir, you are well o'erta'en. 5 

My Lord Bassanio upon more advice 

Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat 

Your company at dinner. 
Por. That cannot be. 

His ring I do accept most thankfully ; 



84 MERCHANT OF VENICE [activ. sc. ii. 

And so, I pray you, tell him. Furthermore, 10 

I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house. 
Gra. That will I do. 
Nerissa. Sir, I would speak with you. 

[Aside to Por.] I'll see if I can get my husband's 

ring, 
Which I did make him swear to keep for ever. 
Por. [Aside to Ner.] Thou mayst, I warrant. We 

shall have old swearing 15 

That they did give the rings away to men ; 
But we'll outface them, and outswear them too. 
[Aloud] Away ! make haste. Thou know'st where 
I will tarry. 
Ner. Come, good sir, will you show me to this house ? 

[Exeunt. 



Act Fifth 
Scene I 

Belmont. Garden before Portia's House. 
Enter Lorenzo and Jessica. 

Lorenzo. The moon shines bright. In such a night as this, 
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees 
And they did make no noise, in such a night 
Troilus, me thinks, mounted the Troy an walls, 
And sighed his soul toward the Grecian tents, 5 

Where Cressid lay that night. 

Jessica. In such a night 

Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew, 
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself, 
And ran dismayed away. 

Lor. In such a night 

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand 10 

Upon the wild sea banks, and waft her love 
To come again to Carthage. 

Jes. In such a night 

Medea gathered the enchanted herbs 
That did renew old iEson. 

Lor. In such a night 

Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, 15 

And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, 
As far as Belmont. 

85 



86 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act v. sc. i. 

Jes. In such a night 

Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well, 
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith, 
And ne'er a true one. 

Lor. In such a night 20 

Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, 
Slander her love, and he forgave it her. 

Jes. I would out-night you, did no body come ; 
But, hark, I hear the footing of a man. 

Enter Stephano. 

Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night ? 25 

Stephano. A friend. 

Lor. A friend ! what friend ? your name, I pray you, 

friend ? 
Steph. Stephano is my name ; and I bring word 

My mistress will before the break of day 

Be here at Belmont. She doth stray about 30 

By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays 

For happy wedlock hours. 
Lor. Who comes with her ? 

Steph. None but a holy hermit and her maid. 

I pray you, is my master yet returned ? 
Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him. 35 

But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica, 

And ceremoniously let us prepare 

Some welcome for the mistress of the house. 

Enter Launcelot. 

Launcelot. Sola, sola ! wo, ha, ho ! sola, sola 1 

Lor. Who calls ? 40 



actv. sc.i.l MERCHANT OF VENICE 87 

Laun. Sola ! Did you see Master Lorenzo ? Master 

Lorenzo, sola, sola ! 
Lor. Leave hollaing, man ; here. 
Laun. Sola ! where ? where ? 

Lor. Here ! 45 

Laun. Tell him there's a post come from my master, 

with his horn full of good news ; my master will be 

here ere morning. [Exit. 

Lor. Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their coming. 

And yet no matter ; why should we go in ? 50 

My friend Stephano, signify, I pray you, 

Within the house, your mistress is at hand ; 

And bring your music forth into the air. 

[Exit Stephano. 

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! 

Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 55 

Creep in our ears ; soft stillness and the night 

Become the touches of sweet harmony. 

Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven 

Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 

There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st 60 

But in his motion like an angel sings, 

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins ; 

Such harmony is in immortal souls, 

But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay 

Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 65 

Enter Musicians. 

Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn ! 
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear, 
And draw her home with music. [Music. 

Jes. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. 



88 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act v. sc. i. 

Lor. The reason is, your spirits are attentive. 70 

For do but note a wild and wanton herd, 
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, 
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud, 
Which is the hot condition of their blood. 
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, 75 

Or any air of music touch their ears, 
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, 
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze 
By the sweet power of music. Therefore the poet 
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and 

floods ; 80 

Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage, 
But music for the time doth change his nature. 
The man that hath no music in himself, 
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils ; 85 

The motions of his spirit are dull as night, 
And his affections dark as Erebus. 
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music. 

Enter Portia and Nerissa. 

Portia. That light you see is burning in my hall. 

How far that little candle throws his beams ! 90 

So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 
Nerissa. When the moon shone, we did not see the 

candle. 
Por. So doth the greater glory dim the less 

A substitute shines brightly as a King, 

Until a King be by ; and then his state 95 

Empties itself, as doth an inland brook 

Into the main of waters. Music ! hark ! 



actv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 89 

Ner. It is your music, madam, of the house. 
Por. Nothing is good, I see, without respect ; 

Me thinks it sounds much sweeter than by day. 100 

Ner. Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam. 
Por. The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, 

When neither is attended ; and I think 

The nightingale, if she should sing by day, 

When every goose is cackling, would be thought 105 

No better a musician than the wren. 

How many things by season seasoned are 

To their right praise and true perfection ! 

Peace, ho ! the moon sleeps with Endymion, 

And would not be awaked. [Music ceases. 

Lor. That is the voice, 110 

Or I am much deceived, of Portia. 
Por. He knows me as the blind man knows the cuckoo, 

By the bad voice. 
Lor. Dear lady, welcome home. 

Por. We have been praying for our husbands' healths, 

Which speed, we hope, the better for our words. 115 

Are they returned ? 
Lor. Madam, they are not yet ; 

But there is come a messenger before, 

To signify their coming. 
Por. Go in Nerissa ; 

Give order to my servants that they take. 

No note at all of our being absent hence ; 120 

Nor you, Lorenzo ; Jessica, nor you. 

[A tucket sounds. 
Lor. Your husband is at hand ; I hear his trumpet : 

We are no tell-tales, madam ; fear you not. 
Por. This night methinks is but the daylight sick. 



90 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act v. sc. i. 

It looks a little paler ; 'tis a day, 125 

Such as the day is when the sun is hid. 

Enter Bassanio, Antonio, Grattano, and their folloioers. 

Bassanio. We should hold day with the Antipodes, 

If you would walk in absence of the sun. 
Por. Let me give light, but let me not be light ; 

For a light wife doth make a heavy husband, 130 

And never be Bassanio so for me ; 

But God sort all ! You are welcome home, my lord. 
Bass. I thank you, madam. Give welcome to my 
friend. 

This is the man, this is Antonio, 

To whom I am so infinitely bound. 135 

Por. You should in all sense be much bound to him, 

For, as I hear, he was much bound for you. 
Antonio. No more than I am well acquitted of. 
Por. Sir, you are very welcome to our house ; 

It must appear in other ways than words, 140 

Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy. 
Gratiano. [To Nerissa.] By yonder moon I swear you 
do me wrong ; 

In faith, I gave it to the judge's clerk. . . . 
Por. A quarrel, ho, already ! What's the matter ? 
Gra. About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring 145 

That she did give me, whose posy was 

For all the world like cutler's poetry 

Upon a knife : Love me, and leave me not. 
Ner. What talk you of the posy or the value ? 

You swore to me, when I did give it you, 150 

That you would wear it till your hour of death, 

And that it would lie with you in your grave. 



actv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 91 

Though not for me, yet for your vehement oaths, 
You should have been respective, and have kept it. 
Gave it a judge's clerk ! but well I know, 155 

The clerk will ne'er wear hair on's face that had it. 

Gra. He will, and if he live to be a man. 

Ner. Ay, if a woman live to be a man. 

Gra. Now, by this hand, I gave it to a youth, 

A kind of boy, a little scrubbed boy, 160 

No higher than thyself, the judge's clerk, 
A prating boy, that begged it as a fee ; 
I could not for my heart deny it him. 

Por. You were to blame, I must be plain with you, 

To part so slightly with your wife's first gift ; 165 

A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger 

And so riveted with faith unto your flesh. 

I gave my love a ring, and made him swear 

Never to part with it ; and here he stands ; 

I dare be sworn for him, he would not leave it, 170 

Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth 

That the world masters. Now, in faith, Gratiano, 

You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief ; 

An 'twere to me, I should be mad at it. 

Bass. [Aside] Why, I were best to cut my left hand off, 175 
And swear I lost the ring defending it. 

Gra. My Lord Bassanio gave his ring away 
Unto the judge that begged it, and indeed 
Deserved it too ; and then the boy, his clerk, 
That took some pains in writing, he begged mine ; 180 
And neither man nor master would take aught 
But the two rings. 

Per. What ring gave you, my lord? — 

Not that, I hope, which you received of me. 



92 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act v. sc.i. 

Bass. If I could add a lie unto a fault, 

I would deny it ; but you see my finger 185 

Hath not the ring upon it, it is gone. 

Por. Even so void is your false heart of truth. . . . 

Bass. Sweet Portia, 

If you did know to whom I gave the ring, 
If you did know for whom I gave the ring, 190 

And would conceive for what I gave the ring, 
And how unwillingly I left the ring, 
When nought would be accepted but the ring, 
You would abate the strength of your displeasure. 

Por. If you had known the virtue of the ring, 195 

Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, 
Or your own honor to contain the ring, 
You would not then have parted with the ring. 
What man is there so much unreasonable, 
If you had pleased to have defended it 200 

With any terms of zeal, wanted the modesty 
To urge the thing held as a ceremony ? 
Nerissa teaches me what to believe : 
I'll die for't but some woman had the ring. 

Bass. No, by my honor, madam, by my soul, 205 

No woman had it, but a civil Doctor, 
Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me, 
And begged the ring ; the which I did deny him, 
And suffered him to go displeased away ; 
Even he that did uphold the very life 210 

Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady ? 
I was enforced to send it after him ; 
I was beset with shame and courtesy ; 
My honor would not let ingratitude 
So much besmear it. Pardon me, good lady ; 215 



actv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 93 

For, by these blessed candles of the night, 

Had you been there, I think you would have begged 

The ring of me to give the worthy Doctor. 

Por. Let not that Doctor e'er come near my house. 

Since he hath got the jewel that I loved, 220 

And that which you did swear to keep for me, 

I will become as liberal as you ; 

I'll not deny him any thing I have. . . . 

Ner. Nor I his clerk ; therefore be well advised 

How you do leave me to mine own protection. ... 225 

Ant. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels. 

Por. Sir, grieve not you; you are welcome notwith- 
standing. 

Bass. Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong ; 
And, in the hearing of these many friends, 
I swear to thee even by thine own fair eyes, 230 

Wherein I see myself, — 

Por. Mark you but that? 

In both my eyes he doubly sees himself ; 
In each eye, one. Swear by your double self, 
And there's an oath of credit. 

Bass. Nay, but hear me ! 

Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear 235 

I never more will break an oath with thee. 

Ant. I once did lend my body for his wealth ; 

Which, but for him that had your husband's ring, 
Had quite miscarried. I dare be bound again, 
My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord 240 

Will never more break faith advisedly. 

Por. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this, 
And bid him keep it better than the other. i 

Ant. Here, Lord Bassanio ; swear to keep this ring. 



94 MERCHANT OF VENICE [act v. sc. i. 

Bass. By heaven, it is the same I gave the Doctor ! 245 

Por. I had it of him ; pardon me, Bassanio. . . . 
Ner. And pardon me, my gentle Gratiano. . . . 
Gra. Why, this is like the mending of high ways 

In summer, when the ways are fair enough. 
Por. You are all amazed. 250 

Here is a letter ; read it at your leisure ; 

It comes from Padua, from Bellario. 

There you shall find that Portia was the Doctor, 

Nerissa there her clerk : Lorenzo here 

Shall witness I set forth as soon as you, 255 

And even but now returned ; I have not yet 

Entered my house. Antonio, you are welcome ; 

And I have better news in store for you 

Than you expect. Unseal this letter soon ; 

There you shall find three of your argosies 260 

Are richly come to harbor suddenly. 

You shall not know by what strange accident 

I chanced on this letter. 
Ant. I am dumb. 

Bass. Were you the Doctor and I knew you not ? 
Ant. Sweet lady, you have given me life and living ; 265 

For here I read for certain that my ships 

Are safely come to road. 
Por. How now, Lorenzo ! 

My clerk hath some good comforts, too, for you. 
Ner. Ay, and I'll give them him without a fee. 

There do I give to you and Jessica, 270 

From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift, 

After his death, of all he dies possessed of. 
Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way 

Of starved people. 



actv. sc.i.] MERCHANT OF VENICE 95 

Por. It is almost morning, 

And yet I am sure you are not satisfied 275 

Of these events at full. Let us go in ; 

And charge us there upon inter'gatories, 

And we will answer all things faithfully. 
Gra. Well, while I live I'll fear no other thing 

So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring. [Exeunt. 280 

Finis 



NOTES 



Dramatis Personae 

Dramatis Personae. — Folio x has no list of the persons of the 
drama. Such a list was printed in Q 3 , 1637. See 
Introduction (p. xl). It has also been noted in the 
Introduction (p. xxxix) that the names in the play are of 
Shakespeare's own choosing. As there is no question of 
their historical existence few comments are necessary. 

Antonio. — This is a happy choice for the name of a typical 
Venetian merchant. St. Anthony of Padua is nearly as 
popular in Venice as in his own city near by. It may be 
noted that his aid is invoked in cases of lost property. 

Shylock. — "In Pepys's Collection of Ballads, vol. i, p. 38, is 
one with the title ' Calebbe Shillocke, his Prophesie : 
or the Jewes Prediction. To the tune of Bragandarie.' 
The second verse begins, ' And first, within this present 
yeere, Beeing sixteene hundreth seau'n.'. .The existence 
of the name in the title of this ballad is sufficient to show 
that it was known in Shakespeare's time." (Clarendon 
editors.) 

Tubal. — This name comes directly from the Old Testament. 
(Genesis, iv, 22; x, 2.) 

Launcelot Gobbo. — " Gobbo " in Italian means a hump- 
back, the Gobbo di Rialto is a kneeling figure of stone 
which bears up a short column of Egyptian granite 
to which steps ascend. It is in the square of San Gia- 
como di Rialto (see I, i, Setting, n.), and from it were 
promulgated the laws of the Republic. The word has 
proverbially a close connection with Venice; a charac- 
terization of the various cities in Italy ends with " Vene- 
zian gobbo." (Lean's Collecteanea, 1:294.) 

Did Shakespeare conceive of Launcelot as a hump- 
back? It is worth noting that the handy man of a 
Venetian household is (or was in 1903) very often a 
humpback, known as "II (the) Gobbo." Chores are 
postponed until the Gobbo can do them. Now Launce- 
lot asks (II, ii, 67, 68), " Do I look like a cudgel or a 
hovel-post, a staff or a prop? " In other words, " Do 
I look like anything strong and straight? " 
97 



98 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

Again, did Shakespeare mean to present him as a 
regular professional fool? It seems not improbable, 
though it has been objected that Shylock was hardly 
likely to employ so idle a mouth. But Shylock calls 
him " patch" (II, v, 46), the recognized name for a 
fool in motley, and complains of his appetite in the same 
sentence. Jessica calls him a merry devil who miti- 
gated the dreariness of her father's house. Moreover 
Launcelot's patter, his oracular but sheer nonsense, his 
odds and ends of learning, all fit in with the character 
of a professional fool. When Bassanio orders the 
livery which for Launcelot was so strong an inducement 
for change of service he says, " Give him a liverv More 
guarded than his fellows." (II, ii, 151, 152). " Guarded " 
is ornamented, decorated with stripes. (N.E.D.) May 
not Bassanio mean that he is to be provided with the 
fool's professional motley? Taking into considera- 
tion Launcelot's eagerness to assume this livery it may 
be guessed that he had at one time been a professional 
fool, that he had lost his place through a whim of the 
great or his own incautious tongue, that in extremity 
he took menial service with the Jew, but was alert for 
the first opportunity to return to the lazy, if uneasy, life 
of a professional merrymaker. That he was a success, 
at least in Lorenzo's opinion, is clear from III, v, 56-61. 
The deformed were popular as fools, for deformity was 
deemed a cause for laughter. 

Launcelot's speech has worried the commentators, but 
their labor is in vain. One might as well try to elucidate 
Jaberwocky. Enjoy it for the plausible nonsense it is. 

Stephano. — This name is familiar in Venice as associated 
with a church in a central location. In Italian it is 
accented on the first syllable, but Shakespeare puts the 
accent on the second in V, i, 28. 

Portia. — The play itself in the very first scene (1. 165) con- 
nects the name with the noble wife of Brutus. The 
same passage assures us that she is a typical Venetian 
beauty — a red-gold blonde. 

Nerissa. — This name is supposed to be a variant of the 
Italian Nericcia (Pron. ne-reech-chee-ah) , from nero, black, 
indicating that in contrast to her mistress she is a 
black-haired, dark-skinned type. 

Jessica. — It may be that this name is taken from Genesis, 
xi, 29, for the name which is spelled Iscah in King James 
version appears as Jesca in earlier translations. (Elze.) 
It does not seem probable that Shakespeare would have 
gone to a long table of genealogy for a name, but it may, 
of course, have been familiar among the Jews or have 



NOTES 99 

belonged to the old play. " The character of Jessica 
is so complex, not to say apparently inconsistent, that 
at times I am almost tempted to think that in her we 
have an outcropping of the old original play, where it 
may perhaps have been that she was not the Jew's own 
daughter. Can we point to a single trait in her that 
stamps her not only as a daughter of Shylock but even 
as a Jewess? She is lavish of money to Gobbo, and 
profusely lavish of it on her own pleasures; she has 
fallen in love with a gay Christian, and longs to change 
her religion ; she shows no respect for her dead mother, 
and not an atom of regard for her living father ; her very 
complexion is not oriental, but fair." (Furness.) 



Act First 

[For the meaning of act, scene, and other terms of dramatic construc- 
tion, see the edition of Julius Ccesar, Appendix, in the Scribner English 
Classics.] 

The First Folio indicates the Act divisions of The Merchant 
of Venice — Actus Primus, Actus Secundus, etc., but the 
Scene divisions are not marked except by stage directions 
for the entrance and exit of the personages. The present 
Scene divisions are, therefore, determined by the consensus 
of opinion among later editors working from the suggestions 
of the stage directions. 

Act I. This Act introduces, in three scenes, the three 
groups which make up the characters of the play. It also 
establishes the two localities in which the action takes 
place — Venice and a country place on the mainland. It 
strikes both the note of business interest and that of romance. 

Scene I 

Scene I. This scene presents the setting of the play — 
Venice as a great commercial port ; its theme — an episode 
affecting Venetian trade ; the " Merchant Group," — typical 
citizens engaged in its affairs. It also indicates the connection 
between this group and the " Belmont Group." 

Setting. Venice. A street. As is well known there are 
no indications of stage setting in the Quartos and Folios. 
This has left Shakespearian editors and managers a free hand 
in devising appropriate backgrounds. Charles Kean in 1858 



100 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

had the curtain rise on a scene in the Place of St. Mark, with 
various groups of nobles, citizens, travellers, and street ven- 
dors, with a ducal procession in the background. But while 
the Place of St. Mark may well be considered the heart of 
Venetian social life, her commercial interests centred in the 
square of San Giacomo di Rialto, where the conversation in 
this scene would seem to place it. 

The actual island of Rialto (Pron. ree-ahl-to), so called 
either because a stream called Prealto flowed into an arm of 
the Brenta there, or from the height of its banks (It. rivo, 
bank, alto, high) was the smallest, but the safest of all 
the cluster of islands to which the inhabitants of the mainland 
fled before the Huns. It became the centre not only of Vene- 
tian business life but also the centre of the traffic of the civilized 
world. The campo, or square before San Giacomo (Pron. 
ja'-ko-mo) di Rialto, popularly supposed to be the oldest 
church in Venice, became the gathering place for merchants, 
and some shelters were placed there for them. These 
shelters eventually became covered porticoes which ran around 
the sides of the square. (Molmenti, Venice, I, ch. ii.) 

" The Rialto, which is at the farthest side of the bridge as 
you come from St. Mark's, is a most stately building, being 
the Exchange of Venice, where the Venetian gentlemen doe 
meete twice a day, betwixt eleven and twelve of the clocke 
in the morning, and betwixt five and six of the clocke in the 
afternoon. This Rialto is of goodly height, built all with 
brick as the palaces are, adorned with many faire walkes 
or open galleries that I have before mentioned, and hath 
a pretty quadrangular court adjoining to it." (Coryat, 
Crudities, 1611.) 

1. — In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. This mood 
of depression at the very outset has been as much of a puzzle 
to commentators as it was to Antonio himself. But the 
speech certainly serves to indicate the atmosphere of the play, 
a comedy only in its happy ending, but serious to the verge 
of tragedy in its progress. Moreover, the possibility of this 
mood (or humor as the Elizabethans called it), on Antonio's 
part, a mood of unusual and unexplained melancholy, pre- 
pares our minds to accept as plausible the fantastic and ill- 
judged bargain made by a man who in his ordinary frame of 
mind was known as a long-headed and successful merchant 
in a city noted for the importance of its business life. 



NOTES 101 

5. — I am to learn. I am (yet) to learn. (Abbott, § 405.) 

8. — argosies. Historically an argosy is a merchant vessel 
of the largest size and burden. " A great argosie . . . having 
streamers and flags verie warlike, with two boats at either 
sterne." Fleming, Continuation of Holinshed, III : 313. 
The name is apparently derived from the city of Ragusa in 
Dalmatia, which had a very large trade and sent its mighty 
vessels as far north as England. 

9. — signiors . . . burghers. That is, the two wealthy and 
powerful classes — the men of high birth and rank and the 
rich citizens. 

10. — pageants. Here the movable structures or wagons 
on which were conveyed the stage and stage machinery used 
in the open-air performances of the mystery plays in England. 

" The manner of these plays were, every company had his 
pageant or part (which pageants were a high scaffold with 
two rooms, a higher and a lower, upon four wheels)." Archd. 
Rogers. (N. E. D.) 

11. — overpeer. Here synonymous with " out-peer," 
to excel, in this sense associated with an obsolete verb " peer," 
to rival. 

12. — curt'sy. " Suggested by the rocking, ducking motion 
of the petty traffickers caused by the wake of the argosy 
as it sails past them." (Var.) 

14. — venture. The word was originally " aventure," 
an enterprise of a business nature involving chances of loss 
or gain. The initial a was probably mistaken for the definite 
article, hence the aphetic form. 

16. — still. Constantly, steadily, in accordance with the 
derivation of the word, " quiet, unmoved." (Abbott, § 69.) 

17. — plucking the grass, etc. A custom among archers 
who would toss up a feather or a bit of grass to determine 
the direction of the wind. The trick is mentioned more than 
once in the Toxophilus of Roger Ascham. 

18. — maps. " In 1459 the long porticoes of Rialto were 
adorned with a chart or mappamondo, showing the trade 
routes of Venetian commerce." (Molmenti, I, i, p. 39-) 
Salanio could thus point out the " ports, and piers, and roads," 
as he was speaking. Shakespeare may very well have heard 
of this feature of the Rialto from returned travellers. 

26. — Andrew. It seems unnecessary to extend conjecture 
here beyond the obvious guess that it is the name of a ship. 



102 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

It makes no difference whether her sponsor was St. Andrew 
or the Genoese naval commander Andrea Doria. 

27. — Vailing. Lowering. Cf. " To see the Spanish 
carvel vail her top." (Hey wood, Fair Maid of the West.) 

34. — even now. But now, used here for an action just 
past and not in the modern sense of an action still going on. 
(Abbott, § 38.) 

— worth this. Is a gesture implied? Perhaps a hand 
was waved towards the Rialto which stood for the whole com- 
mercial power of Venice. 

36. — thought. The thinking faculty. (N. E. D.) 

41. — bottom. Ship. 

49. — two-headed Janus. A Roman divinity regarded 
as door-keeper of heaven and guardian of all doors, gates, 
and ports. He is represented with two faces on one head, 
one looking forward and the other backward. While Salario 
is probably thinking of the double face as appropriate to 
his discussion of sad and merry countenances, it is worth not- 
ing that Janus was also considered as having jurisdiction over 
ports, and coins exist having his double face on one side and 
a ship on the other. The oath is certainly fitting in the mouth 
of a Venetian man of business. 

52. — Parrots at a bag-piper. Parrots are always delighted 
to out-do any insistent strident noise. To bring the allusion 
up to date replace " bag-piper " with " organ-grinder." 

53. — aspect. The accent here, as generally in Shakespeare, 
is on the last syllable. 

55. — Nestor. One of the Homeric heroes who was valued 
in his extreme old age for his wisdom and experience. The 
term is used allusively for a very old man. (See Love's 
Labour's Lost, IV, iii, 169.) 

60. — prevented. Anticipated, a meaning common in El. 
E. and close to the Latin derivation. 

65. — laugh. Have a merry meeting. 

66. — strange. Distant ; cf. the colloquial expression 
" quite a stranger." 

69. — dinner-time. Noon in El. England. 

73. — have too much respect upon. Look too much upon. 
There is here an allusion to the literal meaning of " respect." 
(Abbott, § 191.) 

77. — a stage. The Elizabethan interest in the drama 
made this a favorite figure of speech ; cf. " She found the 



NOTES 103 

world but a wearisome stage to her, where she played a part 
against her will." (Sidney, Arcadia.) Also the famous 
speech of Jacques. (As You Like It, II, vii, 139-166.) 
The late Professor Sykes held that Shakespeare's frequent 
allusions to the stage were intended to heighten the sense of 
reality to the audience, who hearing the stage spoken of as 
a thing apart might forget that it was before their eyes. 

78. — play the fool. Act the part of a jester or fool who 
for the entertainment of great households counterfeited folly, 
often using it as a cover for satiric wit. 

79. — old wrinkles. Those made by advancing years. 
" When she saw her aged wrinkles." (Golding, Ovid, XV, 
255.) 

81. — mortifying. Used here literally to mean groans 
which kill. This belief that sorrow was immediately dan- 
gerous to life is found in Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 58, and 
elsewhere in Shakespeare. 

83. — alabaster. A fine-grained stone used for the recum- 
bent effigies on tombs to be seen in many English churches. 

84, 85. — creep . . . peevish. Another instance of the 
belief in the effect of mental conditions on health. 

87. — are. PI. with a collective noun. 

88. — cream and mantle. Form a scum covering the 
surface. 

91. — conceit. See III, iv, 2 n. 

92. — As who should say. The absolute use of " who." 
(Abbott, § 257.) The sense is " as much as to say." 

— Sir Oracle. This playfully contemptuous use of the 
title is found also in Winter's Tale, I, ii, 196; Troilus and 
Cressida, I, hi, 176 ; Tempest, II, i, 286. 

101. — fool gudgeon. Fool of a gudgeon. The gudgeon 
is an insignificant fish popular with young and inexperienced 
anglers because of the greediness with which it bites; cf. 
" sucker." 

107. — Moe. More ; (A. S. ma.) 

109. — gear. Foolish talk, nonsense ; obs. in this sense. 

114. — reasons. Instances of rational behavior. 

123. — port. Style of living ; rarely so used in Mod. Eng. 

125. — to be abridged. Bassanio has no mind to change 
his way of living. 

128. — time. Time of life ; here youth. 

129. — gaged. Pledged, liable. 



104 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

132. — plots and purposes. This, apparently, means no 
more than " projects and objects in view." There is no hint 
of the sinister meaning now implied in " plot," though Bas- 
sanio's eye to the main chance is not prepossessing. 

136. — within the eye of honor. As honor would approve. 

140. — self-same flight. Weighted and feathered to carry 
the same distance. 

141. — advised. Considered; hence deliberate, judicious. 

142. — find the other forth. " Forth " was formerly used 
in idiomatic constructions with verbs where " out " is now 
generally used ; cf. Comedy of Errors, IV, iv, 98. The prac- 
tice here described seems to have been common among archers, 
as there are allusions to it by various writers. 

143. — childhood proof. Childhood's proof. (Abbott, 
§ 430.) 

144. — pure innocence. Dr. Furness' conjecture (Var.) 
is that this means " pure foolishness " ; Bassanio knew per- 
fectly well that he was inviting Antonio to send good money 
after bad. Certainly " innocence " does pass in meaning 
down from "freedom from cunning," to "want of sense." 
(N..E. D.) 

147. — self. Same ; an obsolete adjectival use of the 
word. 

149. — As. For " so." (Abbott, § 110.) 

150. — hazard. Stake, something risked. Obsolete in 
this sense. (N. E. D.) 

159. — prest. Ready, eager. 

160. — Belmont. See I, ii, Setting. 

162. — sometimes. Shakespeare uses both " sometime " 
and " sometimes " in the sense of " formerly." (Abbott, 
§ 68 a.) 

165. — To. In comparison with. (Abbott, § 187.) 

— Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia. An obvious 1 reminis- 
cence of North's Plutarch; " Porcia . . . was the daughter 
of Cato, whom Brutus married." 

168. — sunny locks. Gold, or red-gold hair was greatly 
admired in Venice. " No pains were spared to acquire the 
color and the glint of gold. It is true that the blond was the 
ideal type of feminine beauty even in the Middle Ages, but 
it was only in the fifteenth century that it became the fashion 
to bleach the hair artificially." (Molmenti, Venice, II, ii, 92.) 

170, 171. — Cokhos' . . . Jasons. Colchis is a country 



NOTES 105 

in Asia on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. In it was 
treasured the golden fleece to obtain which Jason made his 
voyage in the Argo. The story, from classical mythology, 
is related by Ovid, Meta?norphoses, VII, and in Golding's 
translation was familiar to Elizabethan readers. 

174. — I have a mind, etc. I have a mind which presages 
me. In El. E. the relative is frequently omitted, especially 
when the antecedent clause is emphatic and evidently incom- 
plete. (Abbott, § 244.) 

— thrift. Success, prosperity. 

177. — neither. The metre requires the one-syllable pro- 
nunciation " nor." 

180. — racked. Stretched to the utmost ; obs. in this 
sense. 

181. — furnish thee. Provide for your needs. 

184. — of my trust, or for my sake. On my credit, as a 
matter of business, or from personal regard for me. 



Scene II 

Scene II. As the first scene brought before us the " Mer- 
chant Group," so this puts us in touch with the " Belmont 
Group." We are not only told the conditions on which 
Portia may be won, but are given glimpses of her character 
and that of Nerissa. 

Setting. Belmont. A room in Portia's house. This 
stage direction is inferred from I, i, 160, 170. The name 
Belmont (" Fairmount ") is taken from the tale in II Pecorone. 
But the " seat of Belmont " is a true Venetian villa. 

" When the Republic began to enlarge its territory on the 
mainland, love of the country grew warmer among the Vene- 
tians. The aesthetic value of landscape, the rich and shining 
plain, the grassy hills, acquired a significance which is the 
outcome of a long and complicated development in culture 
that the Italians were the first among moderns to appre- 
ciate. ... 

" Throughout the Cinquecento, (Pron. chin-kwaij-chen'to, 
sixteenth century) and especially after the middle, there 
was great activity in building villas along the Brenta, on the 
hills of Vicenza and Verona, in the plain of Friuli and in the 
Marca Trevigiana, which a contemporary calls the garden 
of Venice. . . . 



106 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

" The owners of these villas kept open house for their numer- 
ous friends who took the pleasures of nature mingled with 
the refined enjoyment of art. By way of entertainment 
there was music and games of all sorts. . . . 

" The Brenta was the favorite site for the villeggiatura 
(Pron. vil-lej-ja-too'rah, country life) owing to the facility 
with which it could be reached by boat across the lagoon, 
touching at the river's mouth at Fusina or Lizzafusina. 
From Moranzan ... all the way to Padua, the banks of the 
Brenta were set with sumptuous palaces." (Molmenti, 
Venice, II, ii, pp. 66 ff.) 

Taking into consideration the passage III, iv, 45-55, it 
may be inferred that Belmont was conceived as one of the 
palaces mentioned in the last paragraph. 

1. — By my troth. By my truth, my good faith. 

— aweary. Utterly weary ; a- as prefix before an adjec- 
tive is intensive. 

7, 8. — mean . . . mean. A play on the double sense of 
the word ; it is no contemptible happiness to be seated in the 
middle ground between poverty and riches ; cf. Proverbs 
xxx, 8 ; also III, v, 68 n. 

8, 9. — superfluity . . . competency. Nerissa's meaning 
has been much discussed, but there seems no difficulty if it 
is thus taken — " the effort to attain superfluity brings a 
premature appearance of age, but contentment with modest 
competency has really a longer life." 

10. — sentences. Aphorisms, trite sayings ; obs. in this 
sense. 

18. — blood. Passions. 

20. — meshes. Hunting with nets was practised from 
early days. 

28-33. — inspiration . . . love. Dr. H. H. Furness (Var.) 
offered a convincing emendation of this puzzling passage. 
" Holy men . . . have good inspirations, therefore [i.e. 
hence there is] the lottery that he hath devised . . . whereof 
who chooses his meaning chooses you. No doubt you will 
never," etc. 

38. — description. Here we have the conventional Eliza- 
bethan conception of various nationalities : — the horsey 
Neapolitan, the volatile Frenchman, the tongue-tied English- 
man with foreign affectations, the touchy Scot in close alliance 
with France, and the sottish German. 



NOTES 107 

41. — horse. Neapolitans were called the schoolmasters 
of all Europe in the art of horsemanship, but it was, naturally, 
an art rather undervalued in Venice. Castiglione, final 
authority on good manners in the sixteenth century, could 
find nothing worse to say of a horseman than that he rode 
" in the Venetian fashion." 

44. — County Palatine. County — count ; a Count Palatine 
is a prince who exercises certain prerogatives of royalty. 
As Elizabethan England received more than one Count 
Palatine as guest the description may have some special 
point. 

46. — choose. Take your own course. 

47, 48. — weeping philosopher. Heraclitus, a Greek 
(540-475, B.C.), acquired this nickname because it was said 
that he always found in human life matter for tears, whereas 
another philosopher, Democritus, found rather matter for 
laughter. 

50. — death's-head with a bone in his mouth. Skull and 
cross-bones. 

53. — by. Concerning. 

58. — better bad habit. The comment (Var.) that this 
should be read " better bad-habit " seems reasonable. 

60. — throstle. Thrush ; now used only in literature or 
dialect. 

— a-capering. " A hath also the force of governing be- 
fore a noun." Ben Jonson. Here a = on. In El. E. "on" 
represents juxtaposition of any kind. (Abbott, § 140, 180.) 

68, 69. — Latin, French, nor Italian. Is this meant as 
indicating the minimum linguistic acquirement for a man of 
culture, or is it a sly dig at the insular difficulty in acquiring 
foreign tongues? (Stanton.) 

71. — proper man's picture. The picture of a man as he 
should be; for this meaning of " proper " see N. E. D. 

72. — dumb-show. A part of the early drama represented 
by action without speech ; cf. Hamlet, III, ii, 14. 

73. — How oddly he is suited ! How many kinds of clothes 
he wears. " Odd " may mean " unconnected," " irregular " 
in El. E. Contemporary writers make constant fun of the 
tendency of young Englishmen to return from their travels 
clad in samples of the styles of all the countries they visited. 

80. — his surety. An allusion to the readiness of France 
to side with Scotland in her quarrels with England. 



108 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

90, 91, 92. — should . . . should . . . should. "'Should' 
used in both conditional and consequent clause." (Abbott, 
§ 322.) 

94. — Rhenish. The vineyards along the Rhine produced 
famous wine. 

104. — Sibylla. An allusion to the Cumsean Sibyl who 
having asked long life from Apollo forgot to include eternal 
youth in her petition. Golding's Ovid, XIV, 11. 151-181. 

112. — Montferrat. A territory in Italy, south of the Po 
and east of Turin. Its rulers figured prominently in the 
Crusades, as readers of Scott's Talisman will remember. 

116. — foolish. Humble, insignificant; a sense now 
archaic. 

121. — four. This number is interesting because six 
strangers have already been mentioned. It is probable 
that we have here a phrase from the old play overlooked by 
Shakespeare in the re-making. See Introduction, p. xxxiii. 

127. — condition. Attribute, quality, now obsolete in 
this sense. 

128. — complexion. Of a devil, proverbially black. 

130. — whiles. " While " was originally a noun meaning 
" time " ; " whiles " is its genitive meaning of or during the 
time. (Abbott, § 137.) 

Scene III 

Scene III. This scene completes Act I. It depicts the 
nature and practices of those who make up the " Ghetto 
Group," and so rounds out our knowledge of the characters 
of the play. 

1. — Three thousand ducats. — These first words of Shy- 
lock and his appearance in " Jewish gaberdine " show us not 
only how large is the sum involved but also reveal the fact 
that Antonio, after racking his credit to the uttermost, has 
had to stoop to transactions with a Jewish usurer. He must 
have come to this only after vain trial of other and more 
acceptable means of raising money, and his speech (11. 59- 
62) reveals the struggle in his mind. 

— ducats. The name " ducat " was first applied to a 
Venetian gold coin in the thirteenth century. The name of 
this coin was changed to " sequin " in 1543, and in 1561 the 
name ducat was applied to a silver coin which became the 
ideal medium of exchange. (Molmenti, Venice, I, i, 156-160.) 



NOTES 109 

It was worth about a dollar, but in consideration of the 
greater purchasing power of money in. the sixteenth centuiy 
three thousand ducats was a very substantial sum. 

4. — the which. The article is used to make definite an 
indefinite adjective. (Abbott, § 270.) 

7. — may you stead me? Can you be of use to me? 
" May " originally meant " to be able " ; cf. Ger. mogen. 
(Abbott, § 307.) 

26. — bond. An old complaint in Venice was that the 
Jews refused to lend money on bonds and insisted on pledges 
of gold, silver, and jewels. So much of these had accumulated 
in their hands that in 1395 the Jews were expelled from Venice 
and forbidden to return for longer than fifteen days. They 
retired to Mestre, just across on the mainland (see Introduc- 
tion, p. xxxiii), but of course returned little by little and were 
at last relegated to a Ghetto in 1516. The old cause of dis- 
pute probably continued also and would explain some things 
in this scene — Shy lock's reluctant " I may take his bond 
. . . that I may be assured, I will bethink me," and the 
feeling on the part of the two Venetians that Shylock was, on 
the whole, unusually obliging. It also throws light on Shy- 
lock's agonies over his gold and jewels (II, viii and III, i). 

32. — pork. The Jewish ceremonial law, as is well known, 
forbade the eating of swine. (Leviticus, xi, 7.) 

33. — your prophet. Christ. The story alluded to is 
found in Matthew, viii, 28-34. 

— Nazarite. Inhabitant of Nazareth, Nazarene. The 
word is so given in early translations of the Bible. (Matthew, 
ii, 23.) 

35. — I will not eat. It had not yet occurred to him that 
by doing so he could feed on the prodigal Christian, cf. II, 
v, 14, 15. (Pooler.) 

39. — fawning publican. No really satisfactory explana- 
tion of this curious phrase has been offered. The publican, 
or Roman tax-collector, was always hated by the Jews, as 
many passages in the Gospels show, but why a publican should 
fawn, or why Shylock should compare the money-careless 
Antonio to a tax-collector, is not clear. 

40. —for. Because. (Abbott, § 151.) 

41. — simplicity. Folly. Cf. " Simple truth miscall'd 
simplicity." Sonnet LXVI. 

43. — usance. It would appear from a passage in Wylson 



110 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

on Usurie (1572, p. 32) that usance was considered " a more 
clenly name " for usury. (Reed.) 

44. — upon the hip. At a disadvantage ; a phrase derived 
from wrestling. 

53. — gross. Short for " gross sum." 

60. — of. " Of naturally followed a verbal noun. In 
many cases we should call the noun a participle and the of 
has become unintelligible to us." (Abbott, § 178.) 

61. — ripe. Requiring immediate attention. 

62. — is he yet posses'd. Does he yet know? (Abbott, 
§ 295.) 

67. — methought. It seemed to me ; the past of the obso- 
lete verb think, meaning " appear " or " seem," used im- 
personally. 

68. — upon advantage. With interest. 

70-72. — Jacob . . . third possessor. It is not without 
significance that Shylock recounts with relish the crafty 
device of Jacob who was, to say the least, the most astute 
business man among the patriarchs. The " help of his wise 
mother," Rebecca, whereby she gained for Jacob the place 
of third possessor after Abraham, which rightfully belonged 
to his brother Esau, is recounted in Genesis, xxvii. 

75. — directly. Precisely; cf. Twelfth Night, III, iv, 73. 
— what Jacob did. This instance of Jacob's craft and 

skill in outwitting his uncle Laban, who was quite as tricky 
if less skilful, is taken directly from Genesis, xxx, 25-43. 

76. — compromised. Come to an agreement. 

77. — eanlings. New-born lambs. 

79. — me. In virtue of representing the old dative, 
" me " is often used in El. E. as " for me." (Abbott, 
§ 220.) We still say " do me a favor." 

81. — eaning time. Time of bringing forth lambs. 

82. — Fall. Drop, give birth to ; obs. in this sense. 

88. — inserted. Does Antonio mean inserted in the 
Scriptures or inserted in Shylock's narrative? 

92. — The devil. An allusion to Matthew, iv, 6, where 
the devil quotes Psalm xci, 11, 12. 

94. — villain. Cf. Hamlet, I, v, 108. 

96. — goodly. Many critics, among them Pope, Rowe, 
and Theobald, believe that this should read " godly," thus 
bringing the closing sentence of this speech very close to the 
opening statement concerning the devil. 



NOTES 111 

99. — beholding. Beholden, obliged ; for this use of 
-ing see Abbott, § 372. 

101. — rated. Reproved me vehemently; of obscure ori- 
gin. (N. E. D.) 

103. — Still. Always. 

104. — sufferance. Patient endurance, long suffering. 
— badge. Cf. 

By the Ghetto's plague, by the garb's disgrace, 
By the badge of shame, by the felon's place." 

Browning, Holy Cross Day. 

105. — dog. " Dog " has a peculiarly insulting sound to 
an Oriental ear, for in the East dogs are regarded as outcasts 
and scavengers rather than companions and friends. Cf. 
" Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing? " II 
Kings, viii, 13. 

106. — Jewish gaberdine. A gaberdine is a loose and 
ample upper garment but it does not appear that any special 
cut of gaberdine was worn by Jews. It is probable that the 
word is here used in the general sense of " garment." 
(N. E. D.) 

111. — rheum. Spittle. 

112. — foot me. Kick me, spurn me. 

119. — For the scansion see Abbott, § 499. 

121. — for these courtesies. This speech affords great 
opportunity to a great actor. A past generation rejoiced 
to recall Keane's effectiveness in it, and there are people 
to-day willing to be old enough to recall Booth and Irving. 

127. — breed for barren metal. That usury was against 
nature because gold and silver cannot breed was a common 
argument which gains additional point here by the implicit 
reference to Antonio's scorn of Shylock's method as expressed 
above (1. 90). 

129. — break. Fail to meet his obligation on the day 
appointed. 

130. — how you storm ! Shylock, who has risen to bitter 
irony over the injuries done his nation, cringes with his usual 
" sufferance " under Antonio's repudiation of any connection 
with him but that of business. 

132. — stained. Literally as well as figuratively. See 
above, 1. 106. 

133. — doit. A trifling sum ; originally a small Dutch 



112 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

coin once used in England and worth half a farthing, or a 
quarter of a cent. 

137. — notary. " Divers officers . . . called Notaries . . . 
to accepte take and recorde the Knowledge of all contractes." 
Act 5, Henry VIII. (N. E. D.) 

Dr. M. Jastrow {Young Israel, March, 1876) is in- 
clined to think that Shylock at this point had no idea 
beyond that of a bitter jest, a chance to humiliate his enemy, 
and that it was Jessica's flight and robbery that made his 
mood murderous. (Var.) But compare the speech, " I'll 
go in hate," etc. (II, v, 14), which antedates Jessica's offence. 

138. — single. Much legal erudition has been expended 
upon the legal question of a " single bond " vs. a " bond with- 
out condition " : Shylock calls the bond " single " and it 
is most certainly a bond with condition. If the question 
of legal phraseology be waived, the fact that " single " may 
mean " individual " as contrasted with a number of persons or 
things clears up the matter. (N. E. D.) Antonio is to give a 
bond entirely on his own account. 

142. — for. Here " nearly redundant." (Abbott, § 148.) 

— an equal pound. Exactly a pound ; an obsolete sense 
of equal. 

154. — teaches. The third person plural in -s is extremely 
common, especially in Folio 1 . (Abbott, § 333.) 

— suspect. To suspect. (Abbott, § 349.) 

163. — for my love. This passage has been variously 
punctuated and interpreted. It seems to imply that, even if 
Shylock's offer is refused, at least let not his kind intention 
be suspected of harboring guile. Antonio is touched by 
this appeal. (See below, 1. 178.) 

168. — fearful. Not to be trusted. Adjectives in -Jul 
have both an active and passive meaning in El. E. (Abbott, 
§3.) 

Act Second 

The First Act made us familiar with the Dramatis Personam 
in three groups. In this act the plot is built up. Bassanio's 
way to Portia is gradually cleared of rivals, and the love affair 
of Lorenzo and Jessica, destined to goad Shylock to despera- 
tion, begins. The low comedy is also introduced. 



NOTES 113 



Scene I 



Scene I. The beginning of the end of Bassanio's rivals. 

5. — Phoebus. The Greek name for the sun god, Apollo, 
is very commonly used in El. E. for the sun itself. Cf. 
" warmth of Phebus beames." (Golding's Ovid, 1 : 499.) 

7. — reddest. In El. E. the superlative is sometimes 
used when only two acts or things are compared. (Abbott, 
§10.) 

8. — aspect. See above, I, i, 53 n. 

9. — feared. In A.S. and El. E. " fear " was transitive 
and meant to frighten. Cf. " afeard," II, vii. 29. 

14. — nice. Fastidious. 

17. — scanted me. Limited me. Cf. King Lear, I, i, 281. 

18. — wit. In El. E. this word had a wider sense than to- 
day. Here it has the meaning of sound sense and judgment. 

19. — His wife who. " His " as the genitive of " he " 
may stand in El. E. as the antecedent of a relative. (Abbott, 
§218.) 

20. — stood as fair. There is here, probably, a verbal 
quibble on Morocco's complexion. 

25. — Sophy. This was the surname of the ruling dynasty 
of Persia, from the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth 
century, and became therefore a designation of the ruler of 
Persia. (N. E. D.) There is a marked resemblance between 
Morocco's boast and a passage in the play of Soliman and 
Perseda, I, iii, 51. See Introduction, p. xxxvi. 

29. — sucking cubs from the she-bear. A bear with cubs 
has been a symbol of ferocity from very early times. Cf. 
" They be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her 
whelps in the field." II Sam. xvii, 8. 

32. — Hercules and Lichas. Master and man. Lichas 
was page to Hercules. 

35. — Alcides. Hercules, so called because he was the 
grandson of Alcaeus. 

— page. Theobald's emendation of " rage " in Quartos 
and Folios. 

42. — In way. In the way. " The " in El. E. is fre- 
quently omitted in prepositional phrases. (Abbott, § 89.) 

43. — Nor will not. Double negative is common in El. E. 

44. — temple. This word has puzzled commentators. 
As there is no point in the mention of a place of worship it 



114 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

has been proposed to emend it to " table " (Keightley), which 
is hardly clearer. The present editor suggests that " tem- 
ple " here means " casino " (It. Pron. kah-zes'no), the pleasure 
house in the garden. Such houses are common in the grounds 
of Italian villas and their style is often that of a small temple, 
either round or with a colonnaded front. A miniature in 
the Maggi M. S. (Nat'l Lib., Paris) shows such a building in 
the grounds of a sixteenth-century villa with a supper party 
in progress. In large establishments the casino was often 
a repository for objects of art. Portia simply invites Morocco 
to a meal in the summer house where the caskets are kept 
and where the hazard can conveniently be made. The 
" garden-house " in Measure for Measure, V, i, 212, seems 
to indicate just such a building. 

Scene II 

Scene II. This scene introduces the low comedy business 
of the play, indicates the Gratiano-Nerissa under-plot, and, 
in the last line but one, hints at the complication which is 
to culminate in the Lorenzo-Jessica episode. 

I. — serve me. Be on my side, favor my real wish. 

3. — Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo. See Dramatis Personce. 

10. — Via. (It. via, (Pron. vee' ah), away.) The word 
was used in Shakespeare's time to encourage a horse to 
speed. 

II. — for the heavens. For heaven's sake. 

16. — grow to. A dialect expression used of milk burned 
at the bottom of a pot. 

22, 23. — God bless the mark. An exclamatory phrase 
probably originally serving as a formula to avert an evil 
omen, hence made by way of apology for something perhaps 
better left unsaid. Launcelot displays the very common 
reluctance to speak of the devil. 

26. — devil incarnation. Presumably Launcelot means 
" devil incarnate." 

32. — Master young-man. — " Master " was formerly a 
title of respect indicating either high social rank or learning. 

35. — sand-blind. Half blind. "High-gravel blind" 
seems to be the comparative degree of " sand-blind " in 
Launcelot's phraseology. 

36. — confusions. It is not worth while to discuss in 
detail all of Launcelot's plausible blunders. 



NOTES 115 

42. — of hand. On hand. In El. E. " of " has often a 
local significance. (Abbott, § 165.) 

44. — sonties. Saints. 

48. — raise the waters. Bring the tears. 

51, 52. — poor man . . . well to live. "Well to live" 
is "well to do." Launcelot comes honestly by his "con- 
fusions." 

55. — and Launcelot. Again Old Gobbo shows himself 
Launcelot 's "true-begotten father"; he is as determined 
not to give his son a title as the latter is to have it. 

59. — ergo. Therefore (Latin). Used in logic to mark 
the conclusion of a syllogism. Launcelot's undertaking to 
chop logic is a crowning absurdity. 

60. — father. Here simply a title of respect : Launcelot 
has not proclaimed his identity. 

61. — Fates and Destinies . . . Sisters Three. In classi- 
cal mythology three Fates, or Goddesses, determined the 
course of human life. Launcelot proudly produces a scrap 
of learning. 

67, 68. — a staff or a prop. If a humpback Launcelot 
would certainly look like neither. See Dramatis Persona?. 

86. — your. Old Gobbo uses the formal "you" while 
he conceives himself speaking with a stranger. When he is 
convinced of Launcelot's identity he drops into the familiar 
"thou," 1.91. 

92. — Lord worshipped, etc. Here merely an exclamation; 
originally a comma may have come after " Lord." 

94. — fill-horse. Shaft-horse. 

96, 97. — of . . . of. " On," as in 1. 42. 

101, 102. — set up my rest. Resolved, determined. 

107. — me. Here represents the old dative and means 
" to me." (Abbott, § 220.) 

112. — hasted. Hurried up. 

119. — Gramercy. Very many thanks. (Fr. grand, great, 
merci, thanks.) 

123. — infection. A mistake for " affection," which in El. 
E. meant " inclination." 

128. — cater-cousins. Those not related by blood but 
intimate as blood-kin, hence those who are on terms of close 
friendship. (Derivation and original literal meaning uncer- 
tain. N. E. D.) 

131. — frutify. In Launcelot's lingo " notify." 



116 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

132. — dish of doves. Doves enough to fill a dish. Were 
the doves from Gobbo's own dove-cot? Visitors to Venice 
have often wondered whether the famous doves of the Piazza 
of St. Mark's did not on occasion serve some magnate's 
table. 

143. — preferr'd . . . preferment. Promoted, promotion. 

146. — old proverb. " The grace of God is gear enough." 

149. — speak'st it. "It." in El. E. is sometimes used 
indefinitely as the object of a verb without referring to any- 
thing previously mentioned. Cf. " fight it out." 

152. — guarded. Trimmed, striped. For the possible 
connection of this specially designed livery see Dramatis 
Persona?. 

155. — table. An expression used in palmistry to designate 
a quadrangular space between certain lines on the hand. 
Launcelot's palmistry is no more trustworthy than his vo- 
cabulary. 

156. — Go to. " Go " did not in El. E. necessarily imply 
motion from, but motion generally. Hence " go to " meant 
little more than " come, come." " To " is here an adverb; 
cf. " heave to." 

157. — simple line . . . wives. " Long and deep lines 
from the mount of Venus towards the line of life signifieth 
so many wives. . . . These lines visible and deep, so many 
wives the party shall have." (Saunders' Chiromancle, Halli- 
well.) 

159. — coming-in. Income ; to call such a wealth of 
matrimony " simple " is in keeping with the rost of Launcelot's 
nonsense. 

176. — you . . . thee. Bassanio drops into the familiar 
form of address when he begins to scold in friendly fashion. 
This use of " thee " for " thou " with emphatic imperatives 
is ascribed by Abbott to euphony. (Abbott, § 212.) 

181. — something too liberal. Somewhat too unrestrained. 

— Pray thee. I pray thee. (Abbott, § 402.) 

184. — misconstrued. Accent on the second syllable. 

186. — habit. Demeanor. Words indicating garments 
are frequently used figuratively of a state of mind. Cf. 
" clothed with humility." 

188. — Wear prayer-books. — Printed books were once 
novelties, it must be remembered, and gallants bore about a 
miniature edition of the sonnets of Petrarch while the pious 



NOTES 117 

favored books of devotion. " He was very religious, too, 
never without a book at his belt." Greene, Groatsworth of 
Wit (Pooler.) 

192. — ostent. Demonstration. 

Scene III 

Scene III. In this scene we discover the relation of the 
low-comedy character — - Launcelot — to the plot, and the 
dramatic purpose of his change of service. 

5. — soon at supper. There seems no reason to take this 
as having any meaning outside the ordinary modern one, 
but it is true that in El. E. it might mean during the early 
part of supper. 

10. — exhibit. Presumably Launcelot means " inhibit," 
though it is hard to believe that even tears would affect his 
powers of speech to any great extent. 

Scene IV 

Scene IV. The hint of II, ii, 201 is here developed into 
the sub-plot of Lorenzo and Jessica, the effect of which is to 
blow Shylock's smouldering wrath into flame. 

1. — in. During; frequently so used in El. E. 

5. — spoke. El. E. tended to drop the earlier inflection of 
the past participle -en, even where it is retained in modern 
usage. (Abbott, §343.) 

— us. See II, ii, 107 n. 

— torch-bearers. Owing to imperfect lighting, torches 
and torch-bearers had an important place in all evening func- 
tions, in doors or out ; cf. Romeo and Juliet, I, iv. 

6. — vile. Cheap, not worth doing. 

— quaintly. Ingeniously, artistically ; obs. in this sense. 
10. — break up. A regular term with huntsmen, signifying 

the carving of the game ; here there is probably a playful allu- 
sion both to Lorenzo's pursuit of Jessica and to the cutting 
open of the letter. 

15. — By your leave, sir. Launcelot thus asks permission 
to go. 

22. — masque. " Masquerades were of common occur- 
rence even out of Carnival time, at feasts and banquets in 
private houses. . . . Carnival gradually came to be more 



118 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

and more thronged with masqueraders. . . . Every one 
without distinction — noble, plebeian, courtesan alike — 
delighted to slip on the masque and make merry at San 
Marco or at Santo Stefano, pelting each other with eggs 
filled with scented waters." (Molmenti, II, i, 76.) 

23. — provided of. " Of " frequently follows verbs in 
the sense of " with." (Abbott, § 171.) 

26. — some hour. About an hour. 

32. — page's suit. Disguisings of all sorts figure in the 
plots of Elizabethan fiction as well as drama, and no dis- 
guising is more popular than that of the girl as page. Fan- 
tastic as it seems to us, it was not in reality very remote from 
everyday life. For convenience as well as safety women 
assumed masculine dress when travelling. Mary Stuart 
had availed herself of it, and the Scotch ambassador Melville 
actually suggested it to Queen Elizabeth. (Jusserand, 
Literary History of the English People, Bk. V, ch. vii.) 

39. — shall be. Is sure to be. " Shall " was used in El. 
E. in all three persons to denote inevitable futurity without 
reference to will (desire). (Abbott, §315.) 

Scene V 

Scene V. Shylock's irritable and suspicious frame of mind 
revealed in this scene sustains the suspense between the last 
scene and the culmination of Jessica's story in the next. 

3. — gormandise. That Shylock's economy affected his 
housekeeping appears not only from this line but from 1. 46. 
That there is a vast difference between Shylock's conception 
of rations and Launcelot's is evident when this line is compared 
with II, ii, 104-106. 

17. — a-brewing. Cf. " afoot " and " asleep " in Mod. E. 
(Abbott, § 140.) 

18. — dream of money-bags. As dreams are supposed 
to go by contraries no worse augury could have been imagined 
by Shylock. 

20,21. — reproach . . . his. Shylock plays upon Launce- 
lot's characteristic blunder. 

22. — And. Probably here equal to "if." (Abbott, 
§ 101.) 

24. — nose fell a-bleeding. An omen generally regarded 
as unfavorable, as is shown by numerous passages in El. 
literature. 



NOTES 119 

25. — Black Monday. Easter Monday, so known because 
of Easter Monday, April 14, 1360, when Edward III was with 
his army before Paris and many of his men died of cold. 
(Stowe.) 

30. — wry-neck' d fife. — There is much dispute among 
commentators as to whether the instrument or the player 
on it is here intended. In support of the latter there is a pas- 
sage in Barnaby Rich, Aphorismes (1606) : " A fife is a wry- 
neckt musician, for he always looks away from his instru- 
ment." (Var.) 

33. — varnished faces. Faces disguised with masks. 

35. — foppery. Folly, imbecility ; obs. in this sense. 

36. — Jacob's staff. See Genesis, xxxii, 10. 

37. — of feasting forth. For feasting away from home. 
(Abbott, § 174.) 

42. — Jew's eye. A common expression — " dear as a 
Jew's eye." 

44. — Hagar's offspring. Offspring of a bondwoman, a 
slave. (Genesis, xvi.) 

46. — patch. See Dramatis Personce. 

Scene VI 

Scene VI. The culmination of the Lorenzo-Jessica story. 

2. — pent-house. A shed having a sloping roof ; here, 
apparently, the shelter over a doorway. (O. Fr. apentis, 
shed.) 

5. — Venus' pigeons. The dove was sacred to the goddess 
of love and fabled to go on her errands. 

7. — obliged. Plighted ;' obs. in this sense. 

10-12. — horse, etc. This figure of speech can be under- 
stood only when it is known that the Italian fashion of train- 
ing a horse in " manage " was much in vogue in El. England. 
It involved teaching a horse to pace, trot, or gallop a good 
while to and fro in one path, turning at each end either with 
a single turn, whole turn, or double turn. (Shakespeare's 
England, Ch. XXVII, pt. 6. Sieveking.) 

14. — younker. Youngster. 

— prodigal. It is difficult to believe that in using this 
word Shakespeare had not the parable of the Prodigal Son 
(Luke, xv, 11-32) in mind. 

15. — scarfed. Decorated as with scarfs. So all com- 



120 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

mentators interpret this word, and the passage, All's Well, 
II, iii, 214, gives them support. But it may be also noted 
that in ship-building to " scarf " is to join in a special manner 
intended to resist the strain of the sea. In this sense 
" scarfed bark " would be one well built and strongly bolted 
starting on her maiden voyage, but returning with joints 
loosened by stress of weather. 

21. — abode. Delay. 

23. — When you shall please. When it shall please you. 
(Abbott, § 297.) 

30. — who. The inflection " whom " is frequently neg- 
lected in El. E. 

40. — must. Abbott (§314) thinks "must" here means 
only definite futurity without sense of compulsion. But 
does not Lorenzo mean that Jessica's only chance of escape 
is to be his torch-bearer? 

44. — should be. Ought to be. (Abbott, § 323.) 

45. — garnish. Dress. 

46. — close. Concealing. 

50. — by my hood. An obsolete asseveration of uncer- 
tain reference. 

— a Gentile and no Jew. Considering that the preceding 
speech of Jessica is in character with the proverbial money- 
loving attitude of a Jew, one wonders whether Gratiano is 
speaking ironically. 

51. — Beshrew me. This imprecatory expression, orig- 
inally invoking a curse, seems to have weakened with use and 
is here used merely by way of emphasis. 

— but I love. If I do not love. (Abbott, § 126.) 

63. — the wind is come about, etc. These closing lines 
give us warning of the shift of scene to Belmont and remind 
us that to reach it one leaves the narrow streets of Venice, 
crowded on islands, and sets sail for the wide spaces of the 
mainland. 

Scene VII 

Scene VII. Here we return to the casket story, learn the 
contents of the golden casket and the fate of one unsuccessful 
wooer. 

Setting. As has been stated (p. 99), the directions for settings 
are the work of successive editors. Taking into consideration 
the " temple " mentioned by Portia (cf. II, i, 44 n.), we may 



NOTES 121 

picture this scene in a summer-house in the gardens of Bel- 
mont. 

1. — discover. Uncover. (Abbott, § 439.) 

4. — who. In El. E. "who" with an inanimate ante- 
cedent is not uncommon. 

5, 7, 9. — These lines are Alexandrines, i.e. with six accents 
each. Abbott (§ 501) calls them couplets of three accents 
each, with the division after " gain," " get," " give," respec- 
tively. 

8. — blunt. There seems to be a double meaning here : 
as blunt as lead and as blunt a warning as either of the others. 

20. — shows. Manifest appearance. 

26. — estimation. Reputation. 

29. — afeard. ■ Afraid, past participle of the obsolete 
verb " afear," rare in literature after the seventeenth century, 
but still in occasional colloquial use. 

40. — shrine. Image ; the container for the contained. 

41. — Hyrcanian. " Hyrcania that land hath in the east 
side the sea Caspius, in the South Armenia, in the north 
Albania, and in the west Iberia." (Ralph Higden, Poly- 
chronicon tr. Trevisa.) This is Hyrcania as conceived by the 
Elizabethans. It would be difficult to place on a modern 
map. 

51. — rib. To enclose as with ribs. The reference is 
to the sheet of lead in which a dead body was wrapped over 
the cerecloth. 

— cerecloth. The waxed sheet in which a dead body was 
wrapped for interment. 

56. — coin . . . angel. Called more fully an angel-noble, 
as it was a new issue of the noble showing the archangel 
Michael overcoming the dragon. It was first struck by Ed- 
ward IV, the device being taken from a French coin. It was 
worth about ten shillings. The name afforded endless oppor- 
tunity for the punning propensities of the Elizabethans. 

57. — insculp'd. Engraved. The meaning seems to be 
that whereas the angel's figure is on top of the gold of the coin 
it is here beneath the gold of the casket. 

61. — form. Representation, likeness. 

65. — glisters. Glistens. The proverb used is old and 
familiar. 

69. — tombs do. Johnson's emendation for " timber do " 
of the Quartos. 



122 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

71. — " It would seem the ' as . . . so ' are both to be 
implied from the preceding line." (Abbott, § 275.) 
73. — suit is cold. " A proverbial saying." (Pooler.) 
77. — part. Depart. Cf. Two Gentlemen, I, i, 71. 

Scene VIII 

Scene VIII. Here we have the first hint of the tragic 
outcome of the " merry bond " of I, hi. 

4. — raised. Roused. 

8. — gondola. (Ital. Pron. gon'do-lah.) The characteris- 
tic boat of the Venetian lagoons. It is a long black skiff, 
"in no sense an invention ; it is a growth directed by the 
needs of its native place." There is an engraving in a rare 
book of 1580 which is entitled, This is the way a bride goes in 
her gondola, which shows a wedding party crossing the lagoons. 
(H. F. Brown, Life on the Lagoons, Chap. II.) Perhaps this 
speech of Salarino's indicates that so far from hiding, Lorenzo 
and Jessica were showing themselves in conventional fashion. 

15. — my daughter . . . my ducats. Misers, especially 
miserly Jews, were commonly supposed to hold their goods as 
comparable in value to their families. 

16. — Christian ducats ! Taken originally from Christians 
they had become Christian again. 

19. — double ducats. " Single and double ducats which 
are the emperor's coin." Coryat, Crudities, II, 68, ed. 1776. 
(Pooler.) 

25. — keep his day. Cf. I, hi, 156. 

27. — reasoned. Conversed ; obs. in this sense. 

28. — the narrow seas. See III, i, 4 n. 
30. — fraught. Laden. 

39. — slubber. To do things carelessly. Cf. the ver- 
nacular " slob." 

42. — mind of love. There is some question as to the 
meaning of this phrase. The choice is between " loving 
mind," and " mind, of love" (i.e. for love's sake). 

44. — to. After " employ "' " to " seems to convey the 
idea of sending the thought forward. Cf. Antony and Cleo- 
patra, V. ii, 70. (N. E. D.) 

— ostents. Manifestations. 

46. — there. At that juncture. 

48. — sensible. Full of feeling. 



NOTES 123 

52. — embraced. Cherished. Cf. the common expres- 
sion " to hug sorrow." 

Scene IX 

Scene IX. This scene disposes of the silver casket, and 
clears the way for Bassanio. His success is foreshadowed 
in the closing lines. The succession of wooers and casket 
scenes help us to believe that three months (I, iii, 2) elapse 
before Bassanio's success. 

3. — election. Selection. 

6. — straight. At once. 

18. — addressed. Prepared. 

25. — by. Concerning. 

— fool. Cf. I, i, 101 n. 

26. — fond. Foolish. 

27. — martlet. Black martin or swift ; these birds " fix 
their nests to rocks, lofty church windows, and the tops of 
towers." (Turner, History of the Principal Birds, etc., 
1544.) 

29. — force. Onset. 

— road. Either " highway " (N. E. D.),~or "hostile incur- 
sion," cf. Coriolanus, III, i, 5, Henry V, I, ii, 138. 

— casualty. Disaster. 
31. — jump . Agree . 

37. — cozen. Cheat. Derivation uncertain. 

45. — peasantry. Rusticity. 

47. — ruin. Apparently this means "refuse," "waste." 

52. — It was Capell's suggestion that this line is an aside. 
Portia could hardly have so failed in courtesy to a guest, 
however unwelcome, as to twit him openly. 

54. — schedule. Scroll. 

60,61. — "You have been sentenced but not insulted: 
there is nothing personal in the decision." (Pooler.) 

67. — iwis. Assuredly, the form in El. E. of the E. E. 
" y-wis." 

71. — sped. Finished; done for. Perhaps there is 
also an ironical suggestion of " speed the parting guest." 

77. — wroth. Calamity. An irregular spelling of " ruth " 
meaning " ruin." (N. E. D.) 

79. — deliberate fools. Those who conduct their love 
affairs with the head rather than with the heart are likely 
to come to grief. 



124 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

84. — my lord. Dyce calls attention to other passages 
in Shakespeare where such a sportive rejoinder is made to 
an inferior; / Henry IV, II, iv, 314, 315; Richard II, 
V, v, 67. 

85. — alighted at your gates. Bassanio's party, having 
reached the mainland, evidently sent a messenger by the 
land route. 

88. — regreets. Greetings. 

89. — commends. Compliments. 

91. — likely. Handsome; still in use colloquially. 
93. — costly. Lavish. 

97. — high-day. Confused with heyday, a state of exalta- 
tion of spirit. 

Act Third 

This act develops the theme of Antonio's losses, finishes 
the Casket Story, and contains the climax of the play, that 
is, the indication of its denouement, when Portia proposes 
to solve the bond problem. 

Scene I 

Scene I. This scene shows that Antonio's losses are likely 
to lead to the forfeiture of his bond; Shylock receives that 
news at the same time as he hears of the extravagance of 
Jessica, so that his passion for revenge meets the opportunity 
of satisfying it. 

2. — yet . . . unchecked. Up to this time uncontradicted. 

4. narrow seas ; — the Goodwins. The Goodwin Sands 
are a dangerous line of shoals at the entrance of the Strait 
of Dover from the North Sea. They are shifting and partially 
exposed at low water, and have been the scene of innumerable 
wrecks. Salarino's hesitation about the name of a place 
well known in England would give an English audience a 
sense of foreign environment. 

9. — knapped. " Knap " is to gnaw noisily. Knapping 
ginger seems to have been a favorite occupation with old 
women ; cf. Measure for Measure, IV, iii, 8, 9. 

28. — complexion. Nature. 

29. — dam. Used for the mother bird. Cf. Macbeth, 
IV, iii, 218. 



NOTES 125 

30. — damned. A grewsome pun. 

40. —match. Bargain. Cf. Taming of the Shrew, V, 

ii, 74. 

'40, 41. — bankrupt . . . prodigal. To Shylock there can 
be no extravagance more certain to lead to ruin than lending 
money without interest. 

42. — smug. Well-dressed, neat. Our modern well- 
groomed " probably best conveys the sense of the word here. 

56. — dimensions. Material parts. 

74. — matched. Put together so as to form a set. 

75_ _ Genoa. The famous seaport on the west coast of 
Italy was the constant rival of Venice, with Venice finally 
superior. 

8 0. — Frankfort. A great fair was held twice a year in 
Frankford-on-Main, and Coryat speaks in praise of the 
jeweler's stock there. (Pooler.) 

81. — curse . . . upon our nation. Duty to parents, as 
enjoined in the Fifth Commandment, was emphasized in the 
religion of the Hebrew. As a blessing was attached to its 
fulfilment, personally and nationally, so a tremendous curse 
would follow the violation of it. 

83. _ precious, precious jewels. The desire of the Jew lor 
portable property and the reluctance of the Christian to have 
him acquire them (see I, iii, 26 n) adds point to this lament. 

85. — hearsed. In her coffin. 

122. — merchandise. Trade : " I can do business as 1 
please." The usurer in Shylock has the last word after his 
desire for revenge for injured affections. 

Scene II 

Scene II. In this scene the wooing of the Lady of Belmont 
is accomplished. , 

1. 1 pray you tarry. This opening speech oi .Portias 

shows where her heart is and forecasts the happy outcome. 

2 . _ in choosing wrong. In the event of your choosing 
wrong. 

6. — quality. Manner. 

9. — some. See II, iv, 26 n. 

14. — Beshrew. Though this imprecation is playful, yet 
it has a little more significance than in II, vi, 51. 

15 _ o'erlooked. Gazed upon me with the evil eye. 



126 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

16. — the other. Scan as one word. 

18. — naughty times. Evil days. lt Naughty " conveyed 
a deeper sense of guilt in El. E. than it does to-day. 

21. — I. Used for " me," as the word stands quasi-inde- 
pendently. 

22. — peize the time. Put a weight upon it to hinder its 
flight. 

23. — eke. A form of " eche " (pron. to rhyme with speech), 
meaning to increase, draw out. 

25. — rack. An instrument of torture which pulled out 
the joints of its victims. It was often employed to extract 
confession from those accused of treason. 

44. — swan-like end. The belief that the swan sings 
melodiously at the time of its death is very ancient. Plato 
records a saying of Socrates: "When they perceive that 
they must die, having sung all their life long, [they] do then 
sing more than ever, rejoicing in the thought that they are 
about to go away to the god [Apollo] whose ministers they are." 
(Phcedo, tr. Jowett.) 

49. — flourish. At the coronation of an English sovereign 
he was shown to the people for their obeisance, trumpets 
sounding. (Var.) 

54, 55. — with much more love, Than young Alcides. 
Alcides is one of the names for Hercules. The story referred 
to is one of the incidents of the sixth labor of Hercules. On 
his return from acquiring the girdle of Hippolyta (Pron. 
hip-poV y-tah) he slew a sea monster to which the Trojans 
had from time to time been forced to sacrifice a maiden. As 
he demanded a substantial reward for his services, Bassanio 
exceeds him in love. This is another of the many passages in 
this play in which there is reference to a story found in Gold- 
ing's Ovid, XI, 237-241. 

58. — Dardanian. Poetical for Trojan : derived from 
Dardanus (Pron. dar'dan-us), the fabled ancestor of the 
royal house of Troy. 

59. — bleared. Disfigured with tears. 

61. — Live thou, I live. The subjunctive, which here is 
used conditionally and has the same inflection as the indic- 
ative, is indicated by placing the verb before the subject. 
(Abbott, § 361.) 

63. — fancy. Inclination to love, a common sense in El. E. 
Discussions as to the origin and derivation of love were eter- 



NOTES 127 

nally popular with professional amorists of the school of 
Petrarch. 

79. — approve. Corroborate. 

81. — simple. Without any redeeming quality. 

— but. "But" often expels -the subjunctive from the 
following relative clause. (Abbott, § 123.) 

84. — stairs of sand. The allusion may be to the shelving 
and treacherous sides of an excavation in a sand bank. 

85. — Hercules . . . Mars. Typical heroes, strong and 
valiant. 

86. — searched. A surgical term equivalent to " probed." 

87. — valour's excrement. The beards mentioned two 
lines above. Excrement means any outgrowth, as hair and 
nails. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, V, i, 109. 

92. — crisped. Curled. 

96. — " Being " is to be understood between " them " 
and "in." (Abbott, §381.) 

97. — gutted. Treacherous. 

99. — Indian. Standards of beauty differ, and the type 
admired by East Indians would be a shock to a European 
expecting his standard of beauty when the veil was raised. 

102. — Hard food for Midas. Midas was a king of Phrygia 
who asked and obtained from the gods the power of turning 
everything he touched into gold. " Whether his hand did 
touch the bread, the bread was massy gold." (Golding's 
Ovid, XI, 34.) 

104. — meagre. Poor, barren. 

109. — As. " Such " is frequently omitted before " as." 
(Abbott, § 113.) 

112. — rain. Rein. 

115. — counterfeit. Portrait. 

124. — having. In order to scan this line the -v must be 
softened so that the word has practically one syllable. (Ab- 
bott, § 466.) 

126. — unfurnished. Unprovided with a companion. 

— how far. As far. (Abbott, § 46.) 

130. — continent. Container. Cf. Hamlet, IV, iv, 64. 

141. — prize. A match for prizes. 

156. — livings. Estates, possessions. 

169. — even now, but now. Just at this moment. The 
time indicated differs from that expressed by " even now " 
in I, i, 34. 



128 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

174. — vantage. Opportunity. 

— exclaim on. Blame. 

178. — spoke. See II, iv, 5 n. 

191. — from. Gratiano's congratulations are vague; he 
probably means that he is safe in leaving Bassanio to conceive 
his own good wishes, as he certainly could wish nothing that 
could injure his faithful follower. 

198. — mistress . . . maid. . The relation indicated is 
not what would be understood by the words to-day. Nerissa 
is a " waiting-gentlewoman," in much the same relation to 
Portia as a " maid-of-honor " to a queen. 

199. — intermission. Delay. Gratiano is perfectly frank 
about his wooing as an understudy to his master's. 

203. — sweat. Past participle in -erf omitted. (Abbott, §341.) 

204. — roof. Roof of the mouth. 

209. — so. Used with the subjunctive to mean " pro- 
vided that." (Abbott, § 133.) 

216. — if that. " That " has the force of a conjunctional 
affix here. (Abbott, §287.) 

218. — very. True, real. 

220. — entirely. Heartily. 

227. — commends. Recommends himself to kindly re- 
membrance. 

231. — estate. State, condition. 

234. — royal merchant. Merchant prince : the great 
merchants of the Renaissance were the friends and benefactors 
of princes. 

236. — Jasons. See I, i, 170, 171 n. 

238. — shrewd. Of evil import. In its oldest sense the 
word means accursed. Cf. II, vi, 51 ; III, ii, 14. 

241. — constitution. Frame of body or mind. 

242. — constant. Steady. 

246. — unpleasant' st. This seems a very mild way of 
putting it, but the euphemistic contraction is not uncommon 
in Shakespeare. 

257. — mere. Absolute. 

267. — should. See I, ii, 90 n. 

272. — at morning ... at night. The first phrase has an 
archaic, the second a f am iliar sound to modern ears. 

273. — impeach. Call in question. 

275. — magnificoes. Magnifico is an honorary descriptive 
title bestowed upon the magnates of Venice. (N. E. D.) 



NOTES 129 

288. — unwearied. Borrows a superlative force from 
" best." (Abbott, § 398.) 

297, — This line may be scanned by pronouncing 
" through " as " thorough." 

307. — cheer. Countenance. 

308 — dear bought. Bassanio was an expensive luxury all 
around ; Antonio had put his life into jeopardy on his account 
and Portia had known much strain while in suspense as 
to his choice. Portia shows most generous affection in tak- 
ing up a new burden just as her own trouble seemed ended. 

313 314. — between you and I. A regular El. idiom. 
The sound of -d and -t before me was avoided. (Abbott, 
§ 205.) 

Scene III 

Scene III. This scene, by exhibiting Shylock's cold im- 
placable vengefulness, prepares the way for the Trial Scene^ 
It brings out clearly that Shylock considers all kindness and 
mercy in money matters as the sheerest folly. 

2. _ gratis. A Latin adverb meaning " freely." 

9. — naughty. See III, ii, 18 n. 

— so fond. So foolish. Understand " as " after the phrase. 
15. — the head. Here, as in French, the article is used for 

the possessive adjective. (Abbott, § 92.) 

19> _ kept. Dwelt ; a common meaning in M. &. 

21-24 — Here we have the bottom reason for Shylock s 

conduct! Antonio says no more than Shylock himself said 

in III, i, 50 ff. Race feeling and the loss of his daughter 

have been but fuel to a long smouldering fire. 

27 — commodity. Here convenience, advantage. 

— that strangers have. " Al men, specially strangers, 
have so much libertie, there, that though they speake very 
ill by the Venetians, so they attempt nothinge in effect 
against theyr estate, no man shal control them for it. . . . 
And generally of all other thynges, so thou offende no man 
privately, no man shal offende thee: whyche undoubtedly 
is one principal cause, that draweth so many straungers 
thither " W. Thomas, History of Italie (1561, Clarendon ed.). 

30 —trade and profit, etc. The reason Antonio gives 
for Venetian justice seems to be simply literal, not cynical. 
It is the true mercantile point of view. 

32. — 'bated. Reduced, a-bated my weight. 



130 MERCHANT OF VENICE 



Scene IV 

Scene IV. In this quiet scene we have the climax of the 
play — the first indication of the solution of the entangle- 
ment. We have here the inception of Portia's scheme, her 
communication with Dr. Bellario of Padua, and her arrange- 
ments for leaving Belmont. 

2. — conceit. Conception. 

3. — amity. From very early times friendship has been 
appreciated and regarded not only as one of the great human 
relations, but as one which might very well cause others to 
be forgotten, — " passing the love of women." David 
and Jonathan, Orestes and Pylades, Damon and Pythias, 
Amis and Amiloun — all were famous examples of this virtue, 
and Spenser devoted the Fourth Book of the Faerie Queene to 
friendship and its variations. Damon and Pythias figured 
in the early English drama. So an Elizabethan audience 
was well prepared to second Lorenzo's opinion that Portia 
was displaying only proper appreciation of the semi-divine 
friendship between Antonio and Bassanio in her willingness 
to be parted from her bridegroom. 

9. — customary bounty. Ordinary generosity. 
12. — waste. Here merely " spend." 
14. — proportion. Configuration, form. 

20. — semblance of my soul. Antonio. Her identifica- 
tion with Bassanio is complete. 

21. — From out. In Mod. E. this phrase is replaced by 
" out of." (Abbott, § 157.) 

30. — her husband and my lord's. A compound phrase 
connected by a conjunction is regarded as a whole for which 
one inflexion may serve. (Abbott, § 397.) 

31. — monastery. Some three miles distant from the 
right bank of the Brenta, between Fusina and Padua, there 
was really a Benedictine convent. (Th. Elze.) 

33. — imposition. Injunction : the word carries none 
of our modern sense of " imposing upon." 

45. — honest-true. Two adjectives combined, the first 
used adverbially to qualify the second. (Abbott, § 2.) 

48. — Padua. A city lying on a small tributary of the 
river Brenta by means of which it is in water communica- 
tion with Venice. It is the seat of a famous university. 

" Many Venetians, after going through an ample course 



NOTES 131 

of instruction at home, would be sent to Padua to complete 
their education, which was intended to serve them in civic 
offices or in embassies abroad. . . . Paduan professors of 
law were known not merely in Italy, but throughout Europe, 
and saw their works printed both in France and in Germany." 
(Molmenti, II, i, 258 ff.) 
49. — cousin's. " Cousin " covers kinship of any degree. 

51. — imagined. Imaginable. (Abbott, § 375.) 

52. — traject . . . common ferry. The Venetian word 
for ferry is traghetto (Pron. trahg-et'to.) For the ordinary 
Venetian, too busy for pleasuring, the ferries are the most 
important part of the water life of the city. These ferries 
cross the Grand Canal at fixed points and also run from the 
Rialto to places on the mainland. That from the Rialto to 
Padua was one of the earliest established and dates from the 
fourteenth century. (Molmenti, I, i, 30.) 

59. — habit. This includes both garb and bearing. 

60. — accomplished. Perfectly furnished. 
62. — accoutred. Equipped. 

— like young men. See II, iv, 32 n. 

66. — reed voice. A thin squeaking voice, like that 
produced by the reed or vibrating tongue in a musical instru- 
ment. 

68. — quaint. Ingenious, elaborate. Obsolete in this 
sense. (N. E. D.) 

71. — I could not do withal. I could not help it. 

76. — Jacks. " Jack " as diminutive of John is a nick- 
name-of-all-work in English. Cf. Jackanapes, Jack-in- 
office, etc. 

80, 81. — coach . . . park gate. As has already been 
said (I, ii, Setting), Shakespeare probably thought of Belmont 
as one of the villas on the river Brenta. It would then have 
not only communication by water with both Padua and 
Venice (II, viii, I ; III, iv, 52) but would have access, at the 
rear of the grounds, to the highway between Padua and 
Fusina, as is implied in this passage and perhaps also in III, 
ii, 223. 

Scene V 

Scene V. As the last scene furnished the first hint of the 
solution of the t.agic entanglement, so this one prophesies 
the peace and playfulness of the last act at Belmont. 



132 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

3. — fear you. Fear for you. 

4. — my agitation. Result of my thinking. 

15, 16. — Scylla . . . Charybdis. The classical version of 
11 frying-pan . . . fire." Scylla, the dangerous rock, and 
Charybdis, the whirlpool, are personifications of the double 
dangers of mariners. He who avoids the rock may be swept 
away by the whirlpool. Roman writers localized them in the 
Straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily. 

18. — saved by my husband. A wife was supposed to 
take over the religion as well as the citizenship of her hus- 
band, but Jessica can hardly be supposed already so familiar 
with the New Testament as to quote St. Paul. (I Cor. 
vii, 14.) 

21. — enow. PL of " enough." 

41. — wit-snapper. One who snatches at every oppor- 
tunity for a joke. 

43. — cover. A series of puns starts here. (See 11. 44, 
49, 53.) " Cover " means either the covering of the table 
for a meal or the utensils laid out for use. It was also a 
custom to " cover " or replace the hat which had been removed 
while grace was said. 

46. — quarrelling with occasion. Quibbling at every 
opportunity. 

59. — a many. " A " was frequently inserted before a 
numeral adjective to indicate collective use. (Abbott, 
§87.) 

60. — Garnished like him. If the conjecture (p. 98) is 
accepted, and Launcelot is eager to show himself capable 
of filling the office of a professional jester, "garnished" here 
means not only mental equipment but motley dress. Lorenzo 
knows fools, better established in the profession, who cannot 
match Launcelot in verbal quibbles. 

— for a tricksy word. For the sake of a pun. 

61. — How cheer st thou? What cheer? This verb is 
used by Shakespeare only in this passage, but it is not un- 
common in El. E. 

68. — mean . . . then. This passage has challenged Shake- 
spearian criticism. Capell's interpretation " to observe 
the mean," i.e. to enjoy blessings moderately, is plausible 
in view of the contemporary admiration for the " golden 
mean " of Aristotle. The Clarendon editors suggested that 
the passage is a misprint for " merit them," i.e. " heavenly 



NOTES 133 

joys," which has at least the merit of a perfectly clear 
meaning. 

73. — pawned. Staked. 

80. — howsome'er. Howsoever. 

81. — set you forth. Praise or commend you. (N. E. D.) 

Act Fourth 
Scene I 

Scene I. This scene, the Trial Scene, is not only the great 
scene of the play but one of the greatest and most famous 
in all Shakespearian drama. The groups which have been 
presented to us in their separate lives and activities are here 
confronted and out of the resultant reactions grows the 
catastrophe, which it is to be noted falls in the Fourth Act, 
not as usually in the Fifth. 

2. — Ready. The legal answer to a summons. 

5. — Uncapable. Incapable. The use of un- and in- in 
El. E. is often the reverse of the modern. (Abbott, § 442.) 

6. — from. This use of " from " instead of " of " has a 
modern illustration in " clear from," " free from." 

— dram. Small quantity, very little. 

7. — qualify. Moderate. 

8. — obdurate. The metre indicates that in El. E. the 
accent was nearer the end of the word than with us. (Abbott, 
§ 490.) 

10. — envy. Malice. 
13. — tyranny. Cruelty. 

18. — lead'st this fashion. Keepest on with this pretence. 

19. — act. Action. 

20. — remorse. Simply pity without the modern sense 
of compunction. 

— strange. Extreme, extraordinary. 
22. — where. Whereas. 

24. — loose. Release. 

26. — moiety. A share, portion ; generally, but not 
always, taken as half. 

29^ — enow. See III, v, 21 n. 

— royal merchant. See III, ii, 234 n. 

32. — Turks and Tartars. Ethnologically there is very 
little difference in the people referred to in the general use 



134 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

of these two words. By transference both came to mean 
people with the barbarous characteristics commonly attrib- 
uted to Turks and Tartars. 
33. — offices. Duties. 

35. — possessed. See I, iii, 62 n. 

36. — Sabbath. The Jewish holy day, as differing from 
that of the Christian, is a sign of all that Hebraism stands for. 

38. — danger. Damage. 

39. — your charter and your city's freedom. The words 
here are associated with English practice, but the idea — ■ 
the pride of Venice in her equal justice — is true to the history 
of the sea city. " Legal procedure was at all times marked 
by spotless honesty. . . . The calling of advocate was 
held in high esteem ... in the course of civil suits judges 
were rigorously forbidden to receive visits from either of the 
parties to the cause, or recommendations from their friends. 
. . . Every Venetian, however noble, was obliged to bow down 
before the rigor of the law." Molmenti, II, i, pp. 30-41. 

43. — humor. Here whim, caprice. For a discussion of 
the wide and varied use of this word in El. E. see Julius 
Caesar, II, i, 210 n, Scribner English Classics. 

46. — baned. Killed by poison. 

47. — gaping pig. There has been discussion as to whether 
Shakespeare meant the squeals of a living one (Knight), or 
the lemon-filled jaws of the roast article (Malone). The 
present editor would suggest that the expression has an anal- 
ogy in a " gaping wound " and that the reference here may 
mean a pig hung by the heels, its throat cut by the butcher ; 
— a sight to shock the squeamish. 

49. — affection. A mental state brought about by any in- 
fluence. (N. E. D.) Shylock explains that a mental state 
capable of inducing passionate action may proceed from 
trifling physical influences. 

57. — lodged. Settled. 

— certain. Steadfast. 

59. — losing suit. Shylock will lose money if he persists 
in exacting the pound of flesh. 

61. — current. Unimpeded course. 

67. — question. Talk, debate. Remember you are argu- 
ing with the Jew. 

69. — main flood. High tide. 

— 'bate. See III, iii, 32 n. 



NOTES 135 

72. — mountain pines. — This passage, as so many others 
in the play, has a close parallel in Golding's Ovid, XV, 677, 
678. " Such noyse as Pynetrees make what time the heady 
eastern winde Doth whiz amongst them." (Steevens.) 

74. — fretten. Fretted, an irregular formation used by 
Shakespeare only here. 

79. — conveniency. Fitness. 

84. — draw. Receive. 

87 —purchased slave. Shylock's accusation was per- 
fectly true. A contract for the purchase of slaves exists, 
dated 1588, nor is it known with certainty just when the 
traffic ceased in Venice. Black slaves frequently served as 
gondoliers. It is fair to say that they seem to have been at 
least as well treated as hired servants. See Molmenti, 11, 

ii, p. 240. 

89 — parts. Capacities. 

101. — Upon. In accordance with. 

!20 sole . . . soul. If a play on words seems out of 

place at such a tragic moment it must be remembered that 
it is perpetrated by Gratiano, of the "skipping spirit.^ 
(II ii 177 ff ) The implied suggestion of stage business 
has been utilized by all actors of Shylock. The Jew kneels 
that he may intently whet his knife on the sole of his shoe. 
Booth did not even raise his eyes at 1. 124. 

122. — hangman's axe. " Hangman " is here a general 
term for executioner. . 

125 — inexecrable. In Folio 3 this is emended to inexor- 
able " which seems to meet the case better than the attempt 
to explain the word as " not to be sufficiently execrated. 

126 — The force of this line is — " Let justice be accused 
that you have not already been executed for your crimes." 

128 — opinion with Pythagoras. The doctrine, commonly 
called "metempsychosis," that at death the soul passes 
into another living creature — man, animal, or even plant. 
Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher of the sixth century b c, 
was the first prominent teacher of this doctrine which has 
had a widespread acceptance and influence. 

131 —wolf hanged for human slaughter. The trial and 
punishment of animals for various crimes seems to have been 
considered a regular legal proceeding on the continent «f 
Europe some time after the date of this play. The practice 
was based on Exodus, xxi, 28. But Mr. Sydney Lee sus- 



136 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

pects in this passage a punning allusion to the execution of 
Dr. Lopez, a Spanish Jew, under the accusation of high 
treason in 1594. See Introduction, p. xix. 

132. — fleet. Pass swiftly. 

13G. — rail the seal, etc. An apposite version of " Hard 
words break no bones." 

147. — shall. Conveys here the idea of necessity. (Ab- 
bott, § 315.) 

149. — visitation. Visit. 

153. — opinion. The " notes " of III, iv, 50. 

161. — what he writes. This phrase is a redundant object, 
merely explanatory. (Abbott, § 414.) 

167. — throughly. A form of " thoroughly " commonly 
used in El. E. 

173. — impugn. Find fault with. 

174. — danger. Power to harm. 

176, 177. — must . . . must. It is true that in El. E. 
" must " did not always convey the idea of necessity which 
we associate with it (Abbott, § 314), and Portia probably 
means no more than a " recommendation to mercy." But 
Shylock takes her up with exactly our meaning of the word. 

178. — strained. Forced, constrained ; a direct rejoinder 
to Shylock's " compulsion " in the preceding line. 

180. — twice blest. Some of the discussion as to the 
meaning of this phrase might have been saved if the Beati- 
tude (Matt., v,. 7) had been recalled. There the quality of 
mercy is shown as blest to both giver and receiver. 

190, 191. — earthly power . . . justice. This sentiment 
was a commonplace expressed by many writers. (Var.) 

194-196. — This distinct reference to the Lord's Prayer 
and the Christian doctrine of forgiveness to be measured by 
forgiveness of others need not have sounded strangely in 
Shylock's ear. Cf. " He showeth no mercy to a man which 
is like himself : and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins? " 
Ecclesiasticus, xxviii, 4. (Apocrypha.) 

197. — mitigate. Portia admits the legality of Shylock's 
cause, asking of him only voluntary mercy. Thus the mind 
of the audience is prepared for the stern measures dealt to 
Shylock in the end, for he rejects the plea and declares for 
the law (1. 200). 

208. — truth. Honesty. Cf . Much Ado About Nothing, 
IV, i, 36 ; King John, IV, iii, 144. 



NOTES 137 

209. — wrest the law. Misinterpret the law wilfully. 

210. — Here we have one of the great and ever-recurring 
questions in morals. 

- 212. — there is no power. Venice prided herself on the 
immutability of laws. " This noble city which like a pure 
virgin inviolably doth conserve her laws and customs." 
Painter, Palace of Pleasure. (Pooler.) 

217. — A Daniel come to judgment. In the Apochryphal 
book of Susannah Daniel appears as a wise young judge who 
rescues Susannah from persecution disguised as justice. 

236. — stay ... on. Take my stand upon, gi 4 

249. — balance. Though there is evidence of the El. use 
of the singular form to mean a pair of balances it is also true 
that there is often confusion in the plural of nouns ending 
in a sibilant. (Abbott, § 471.) 

255. — you do. The obvious suggestion is to understand 
"you should do." But see Abbott (§370) for irregular 
sequence of tenses. 

266. — such misery. The scansion of this line is difficult 
unless we suppose " a " to have dropped out between these 
words. 

269. — speak me fair. Bear favorable witness of me. 

271. — love. Lover. Cf. Ill, iv, 17. 

275. — with all my heart. Shakespeare succeeds in making 
the play on words, which he could not resist, add to the pathos 
of this speech. 

277. — Which. Where "so dear," etc., is implied in the 
antecedent the corresponding " which " may occur in the 
relative. (Abbott, § 266.) 

289. — Christian husbands. To Shylock this belittling 
of the wife's claim in favor of a friend is abhorrent. More- 
over, he recalls that his daughter has now such a husband 
and the old grievance is renewed. 

290. — Barrabas. (Pron. bar'rah-bas.) This pronuncia- 
tion is found also in Marlowe's Jew of Malta. 

292. — pursue. Accent the first syllable. (Abbott, § 492.) 

305. — confiscate. This verb, among others, did not add 
-ed in the participle, because they already resembled parti- 
ciples in their termination. (Abbott, § 342.) 

312. — the bond thrice. This was Portia's offer (1. 228). 

319. — just. Exact. (Abbott, § 14.) 

321. — substance. The exact force of this passage, de- 



138 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

pending on the sense of this word, has been much disputed. 
Taking it as " mass " (N. E. D.) the sense would be that the 
Jew is forfeit whether he makes a mistake so great as to affect 
the weight of the mass perceptibly, or whether it would take 
the balance of a hair to reveal it. 

344. — seek. Subjunctive in a subordinate clause denot- 
ing purpose. (Abbott, § 368.) 

345. — contrive. Plot. 

348. — in the mercy. We still say " in the power." 

361. — shalt. Future used for subjunctive; not uncom- 
mon in El. E. (Abbott, § 348.) 

365. — humbleness. Submission, gentleness. 

374. — quit. Remit. It is difficult to be sure just what 
settlement Antonio was suggesting. The explanation which 
seems most in accord with Antonio's generous spirit is that 
as the Duke has suggested that the state may be satisfied with 
a fine instead of half Shylock's property, so he will accept 
only in trust the half adjudged him. But, while it is clear 
enough that Lorenzo and Jessica will benefit ultimately, it 
is by no means clear whether Shylock or Antonio himself 
will be the immediate beneficiary. The Clarendon editors 
are sure that Antonio was asking nothing for himself ; he 
could rely on Bassanio's gratitude, and besides Shakespeare 
knew that Antonio was soon to find himself a rich merchant 
once more. 

376. — use. Trust. 

380. — presently. At once ; a more immediate sense than 
ours. 

384. — recant. Retract. 

395. — of pardon. In respect of pardon. (Abbott, § 174.) 

399. — gratify. Reward substantially. 

405. — cope. Match with an equivalent. This use is 
found only in Shakespeare and in this one passage. 

419. — gloves. This request on the part of Portia is by 
no means as incidental as it seems to-day. Gloves were 
once rarer and more valuable articles than at present and had 
many symbolical usages. They were given as complimentary 
fees in law cases where the prisoner was pardoned after con- 
demnation. A reversal of a sentence of outlawry was fol- 
lowed by a present of gloves to the judges whose word was 
to restore the culprit to home and citizenship. Sir Thomas 
More received gloves from a grateful suitor whose cause he 



NOTES 139 

had favored, and these were accepted though the money 
accompanying them was declined. (S. W. Beck.) After 
having made the conventional request of gloves from Antonio, 
Portia could ask the eager Bassanio for something else. 

420. — ring. Nash in the Unfortunate Traveller (ed. 
McKerrow, p. 260) tells a tale of a similar trick : rings ob- 
tained by deceit and used to excite jealousy, and lays the 
scene in Venice. 

424. — to give. In giving. (Abbott, § 356.) 
444. — commandment. Scan as a quadrisyllable : The 
-e before the last syllable was retained in pronunciation after 
it had been dropped in spelling. (Abbott, § 488.) 

Scene II 

Scene II. A brief scene, but necessary to link the Trial 
Scene to the last act. Portia must make sure of the Jew's 
property for Lorenzo and Jessica, so when Gratiano comes 
up with Bassanio 's ring she requests him to direct her " clerk " 
to Shylock's house. Nerissa, of course, promptly avails 
herself of the chance to echo the ring episode. 

6. — advice. Consideration, deliberation. 

11. — old. " That Shy lock was really old has been ques- 
tioned. He is certainly called so by himself (II, v, 2) and by 
Portia (IV, i, 169). Antonio expects to outlive him (IV, 
i, 377)." (Pooler.) 

15. — old. Intensive of great ; cf. the colloquial use of 
" grand." It is still a dialect use in Warwickshire. 

Act Fifth 

This Fifth Act has sometimes been considered as a fault 
in the construction of the play, for the catastrophe is undoubt- 
edly in Act IV. The plot, it has been said, ends with the 
solution of the Bond Story. To drop from the strain and 
relief of the Trial Scene to the light-hearted life of Belmont 
is an anticlimax, detracting from the dignity of the play. But 
the moral teaching of the play is that money can never out- 
weigh love and faith and it is at Belmont that these rule. 
It would have been out of keeping with the whole conception 
of Portia to take leave of her in her doctor's gown with her 
identity still undiscovered. Our last impression of her is 



140 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

to be that of the gracious lady and mistress, as capable of 
playful affection as of learned discussion. 

Scene I 

Setting. Garden before Portia's house. See I, ii, Setting. 

I. — In. During. (Abbott, §161.) 

4. — Troilus. The first of a group of allusions to classical 
stories which were, of course, common property not only of 
renaissance but of medieval literature. But it is of special 
interest to note that this particular group is to be found in 
Chaucer — the first in Troilus and Criseyde, one undoubted 
source of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and the others 
in The Legend of Good Women. Actual verbal resemblance 
to Chaucer was here noted by Steevens : " Upon the wall is 
fast eke would he walke." (Troilus and Criseyde, V, 666.) 

7. — Thisbe. The familiar story of Pyramus and Thisbe 
was used by Shakespeare in the burlesque performance in 
the Fifth Act of Midsummer Night's Dream. It is found 
not only in Chaucer but in Golding's Ovid, IV, and also in 
Gower's Confessio Amantis. " On the whole Gower's ac- 
count is most like Shakespeare's." (Pooler.) 

10. — willow. This is not classical, but an Elizabethan 
audience would readily understand the implication. Cf. 
Othello, IV, hi, 41 ff. ; Much Ado About Nothing, II, i, 
194 ff. 

II. — waft. Beckoned. Verbs with an infinitive in -t 
often drop the -ed in the past indicative. (Abbott, § 341.) 

13. — Medea. A famous sorceress of Colchis who restored 
youth to iEson, father of Jason, by her enchantments. The 
starlit setting thus runs in Ovid : 

O golden starres whose light, 
Doth jointly with the Moone succeed the beames that blaze by day. 

Golding's Ovid, VII, 259, 260. 

15. — steal. Dr. Furness inquires (Var.) whether Lo- 
renzo might not have used a less suggestive word. 

16. — unthrift. Unthrifty. 

23. — out-night. Outdo you in mentioning starlit nights. 

24. — footing. Footsteps. 

28. — Stephano. By the time Shakespeare wrote the Tem- 
pest he knew that this name should be accented on the first 
syllable. 



NOTES 141 

31. — holy crosses. The wayside shrines of Europe with 
their crosses attract the attention of every traveller. 

39. — Sola, etc. The irrepressible and officious Launcelot 
rushes in imitating the postman's horn, degenerated in later 
days to a whistle. 

49. — expect. Await. 

51. — signify. Give notice. 

53. — music. Venice was well known for its music, to 
which the peculiar softness of its physical and moral atmos- 
phere was favorable. The Venetian painters " draw for 
us those companies of high born men and women met for 
music and for song, in the gilded chambers of their palaces, 
in the gardens and vineyards of the lagoon, in the parks and 
groves of their villas on the mainland." (Molmenti, II, ii, 29.) 

56. — In. In El. E. " in " was used with verbs of motion 
as well as rest, and we still say " fall in love." 

57. — touches. Motions of the hand fingering a musical 
instrument. 

59. — patines. Thin plates of metal. This passage indi- 
cates a night so brilliant that stars hold their own even against 
bright moonlight. 

61. — motion . . . sings. The doctrine of the "music of 
the spheres," originated by Pythagoras, had through Pla- 
tonic teaching been so thoroughly incorporated into human 
thought and speech by Shakespeare's time that it is utter 
folly to talk about any particular " source " for this passage. 
Plato (Republic, Bk. X) tells of the whirling planetary 
spheres, one outside the other, which make up the universe. 
On the upper surface of each is a siren, going around with it 
and sounding the note peculiar to that sphere, the combina- 
tion of notes making harmony. In mediaeval discussion these 
sirens naturally became angels. Shakespeare understands 
the conception, originally concerned only with the planets 
as extending to the " smallest orb." 

62. — quiring. Making music. 

— cherubins. The Hebrew word cherub (pi. cherubim) 
indicates an angel of a particular rank in the heavenly hier- 
archy. The Fr. singular is cherubin. 

65 — c i 0S e it in. The "too, too solid flesh" so closely 
imprisons the soul that we can hear clearly neither its har- 
mony nor that of the universe. 

66. — wake Diana. See below, 1. 109 n. 



142 MERCHANT OF VENICE 

68. — Draw her home with music. As Orpheus drew all 
things. See below, I. 79. 

72. — race. Herd. 

77. — mutual. Common ; a sense frequent in Shake- 
speare, though not now accepted as good usage. 

79. — poet. While the story of Orpheus and the power 
of his music has been a favorite poetic theme, yet it is fair to 
assume that Shakespeare here means Ovid, who treated it 
in the Metamorphoses. To Golding's translation of this 
Shakespeare was often indebted, especially in this play. 

81. — stockish. Like a stick, unfeeling. 

83-88. — This much quoted passage has been taken most 
seriously as an authentic pronouncement on human psychol- 
ogy with fine disregard for the fact that it is uttered by Lo- 
renzo, no philosopher at the best, who is in love, in moonshine, 
and in an Italian garden ! Portia sounds the note of warn- 
ing against glamour in 1. 100. It is true, however, that 
Shakespeare held lack of musical appreciation against Cassius 
(Julius Ccesar, I, ii, 204). Recent history shows that even 
musical endowment so wide-spread as to be called national 
is not inconsistent with the quality indicated in 1. 85 ! 

85. — spoils. Rapine, spoliation. 

87. — Erebus. In classical mythology the abode of utter 
darkness outside the earth. 

90. — little candle. — See Matthew, v, 14-16. 

91. — naughty. See III, ii, 18 n. 

99. — without respect. Without consideration of cir- 
cumstances. This is the sense according to N. E. D. But 
may not Portia have some notion of the familiarity which 
breeds contempt? She liked the music before she knew its 
connection with her own servants, and Nerissa evidently 
scorns the home-made product. 

109. — Endymion. In classical mythology a shepherd of 
Elis loved by Diana, whose symbol is the moon. He slept 
in a cave on Mt. Latmos, where Diana visited him. This 
story is told by Ovid, Heroides, XVIII. 

112. — cuckoo. The note of this bird is so peculiar that 
there can be no question of its identity. 

121. — tucket. (It. toccato.) A flourish on a trumpet. 

127. — Antipodes. The opposite side of the earth which, 
of course, is dark in our daytime. Bassanio's compliment 
is characteristically Elizabethan. 



NOTES 143 

132. — God sort ail ! God's will *be done : let God decide 
the fate or lot of all. 

136. — in all sense. For every reason. 

141. — this breathing courtesy. Talk's cheap. 

146. — posy. A contraction of poesy, meaning the motto 
or jingle inscribed in a ring. 

148. — upon a knife. Mottoes were engraved also upon 
knives. The missing accent in this line is supplied by the 
marked pause after the colon. (Abbott, § 508.) 

154. — respective. Mindful, careful. 

157. — and if. " And " or " an " were at one time used to 
introduce subjunctive clauses. Later " if " was added and 
gradually was used alone. (Abbott, §§ 102, 103.) 

160. — scrubbed. Stunted, A. S. scrob, a shrub. (Cf. 
Shropshire.) 

162. — prating. Prattling. 

167. — riveted. The final -ed is not sounded. (Abbott, 
§ 472.) 

173. — too unkind. The metre requires that only two 
syllables be made of these two words. (Abbott, § 462.) 

174. — Mad. Insane, beside herself with wrath, a sense 
now colloquial, especially in the U. S., but formerly in good 
use. 

195. — virtue. Power. 

196. — her worthiness. As the genitive of " she " " her " 
may stand as the antecedent of a relative. (Abbott, § 218.) 

197. — contain. Retain. 

199. — much. Used as an adverb. (Abbott, §51.) 

202. — ceremony. A ritual accessory or sacred sign. 

206. — civil Doctor. Doctor of Civil Law ; the extreme 
respect accorded to the attainment of this degree in Venice 
gives point to Bassanio's contention that he could not very 
well refuse the request for the ring. 

216. — candles of the night. A common metaphor. Cf. 
Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 9 ; Macbeth, II, i, 5. 

237. — wealth. A general sense of prosperity. 

240. — My soul upon the forfeit. A far more valuable 
pledge than that recalled in 1. 237, merely his body. 

265. — life and living. One necessary to the other. Cf. 
Shylock's complaint (IV, i, 369, 370). 

276. — Of. Used with verb of fulness. (Abbott, § 171.) 



APPENDIX 

SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS CHRONOLOGICALLY 
ARRANGED 

The date of composition of Shakespeare's works cannot be 
absolutely determined, but dates that are approximately cor- 
rect have been assigned for all his plays. The evidence by 
which the time of composition is established is: — (1) Evidence 
external to the play, such as the entry for printing in the Station- 
ers' Register, the date on the title-page of the earliest known 
edition, references to the play in other works of known date; 
(2) evidence both external and internal, such as references in 
the play to things contemporary of known date or sources 
used; (3) evidence internal, such as the character of the dramatic 
art and peculiarities of style. Under stylistic peculiarities is in- 
cluded the developing freedom Shakespeare shows throughout 
the progress of his work in his metrical expression. He moves 
gradually away from the frequent rimed lines of his early 
plays to an almost pure blank verse in his later ones. . He 
moves gradually away from the monotony of lines regularly 
ending with a pause ("end-stopped" lines) to a freer rhythmic 
movement in which the rhythm runs on into the following line 
("run-on" lines). In consequence of this freer metrical move- 
ment, the lines that in early plays end usually with words that 
have a heavy stress of the voice gradually change to lines which 
often end with words of little or no stress. The formal line of 
the English drama, the iambic pentameter (a five-accent line, 
the pattern foot of which is x 0, is more and more varied by 
the addition of unaccented (x) syllables, especially at the 
caesura and at the end of the line. 

From such evidence, the chronological order of the plays is 
determined. The following is the order assigned them by 
Dowden, Skakspere, pp. 56 /. Other scholars differ slightly 
in regard to the order and date here presented: 

145 



146 



CHRONOLOGY 



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INDEX TO NOTES 



abode, 120 

a-brewing, 118 

a-capering, 107 

accomplished, 131 

accoutred, 131 

act, 133 

adjective, indefinite made definite, 109 

advantage, upon, 110 

advice, 139 

afeard, 121 

affection, 134 

agitation, 132 

alabaster, 103 

Aicides, 113, 126 

Alexandrine line, 121 

all my heart, 137 

a many, 132 

amity, 130 

and, equalling "if," 118; to introduce 

subjunctive clauses, 143 
Andrew, 101 
angel, 121 
Antipodes, 142 
Apocrypha, 136, 137 
approve, 127 
Arcadia, 103 
argosies, 101 
article making definite and indefinite 

adjective, 109 
as for "so," 104 ; omitted before 

"such," 127; understood, 129 
Ascham, Roger, 101 
aspect, 102, 113 
at morning, 128 
aweary, 106 

badge, 111 

bag-piper, 102 

balance, 137 

baned, 134 

bankrupt, 125 

Barrabas, 137 

'bated, 129 

beholding, 111 

being, understood, 127 

Belmont, 104, 105, 120, 131 

beshrew me, 120, 125 

better bad habit, 107 

between you and I, 129 

Black Monday, 119 

bleared, 126 

blood, 106 

blunt, 121 



bond, 109, 137 ' 
Booth, Edwin, 111 
bottom, 102 
break, 111 
breakup, 117 
breathing courtesy, 143 
breed for barren metal, 111 
Brown, H.F., 122 
Browning, Robert, 111 
Brutus' Portia, 104 
burghers, 101 
but I love, 120 

but, expelling subjunctive, 127 
by, 107, 123; by my hood, 120; by 
your leave, 117 ; by my troth, 106 

candles of the night, 143 

Capell, Edward, 123 

Castiglione, Baldassare, 107 

casualty, 123 

cater-cousins, 115 

Cato's daughter, 104 

cerecloth, 121 

ceremony, 143 

certain, 134 

Charybdis, 132 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 140 

cheer, 129 

cherubins, 141 

childhood proof, 104 

Chiromancie, (Saunders), 116 

choose, 107 

Christian husbands, 137 

civil Doctor, 143 

close, 120; it in, 141 

Colchos, 104 

coming-in, 116 

commandment, 139 

commends, 124, 128 

commodity, 129 

competency, 106 

complexion, 108 

compound phrase, one inflection, 130 

compromised, 110 

conceit, 103, 130 

condition, 108 

Confessio Amantis, 140 

confiscate, 137 

confusions, 114 

constant, 128 

constitution, 128 

contain, 143 

continent, 127 



147 



148 



INDEX TO NOTES 



conveniency, 135 

cope, 138 

Coryat, Thomas, 100, 122, 125 

costly, 124 

counterfeit, 127 

County Palatine, 107 

cover, 132 

cozen, 123 

cream, 103 

crisped, 127 

Crudities, 100, 122 

cuckoo, 142 

current, 134 

curse, 125 

curt'sy, 101 

customary bounty, 130 

dam, 124 

damned, 125 

danger, 134, 136 

Daniel, 137 

Dardanian, 126 

day, break, 111 ; keep his, 122 

dear bought, 129 

death's head, 107 

deliberate fools, 123 

Democritus, 107 

description, 106 

devil, 110 ; devil incarnation, 114 

dimensions, 125 

dinner-time, 102 

directly, 110 

discover, 121 

dish of doves, 116 

do withal, 131 

dog, 111 

doit, 111 

dram, 133 

draw, 135 

dream of money-bags, 118 

ducat, 108, 122 

dumb-show, 107 

Dyce, Alex., 124 

eaning time, 110 

eanlings, 110 

-ed, inflection dropped, 128 

eke, 126 

election, 123 

Elze.Th., 130 

embraced, 123 

-en, inflection dropped, 117, 128 

Endymion, 142 

enow, 132 

entirely, 128 

envy, 133 

equal pound, 112 

Erebus, 142 

ergo, 115 

estate, 128 

estimation, 121 

even now, 102, 127 

exclaim on, 128 



excrement, valour's, 127 

exhibit, 117 

expect, 141 

eye of honor, 104 

Faerie Quecne, 130 

fall, 110 

fancy, 126 

Fates, 115 

father, title of respect, 115 

fawning publican, 109 

fear, 132 

feared, 113 

fearful, 112 

fill-horse, 115 

find the other forth, 104 

fleet, 136 

Fleming, Continuation of Holinshed, 

101 
flourish, 126 
fond, 123, 129 
fool, 98, 103, 123 
foolish, 108 
foot me, 111 
footing, 140 
foppery, 119 

for, meaning because, 109 
force, 123 
form, 121 
four, 108 
Frankfort, 125 
fraught, 122 
French, 107 
fretten. 135 

from, 133 ; from out, 130 
fruitify, 115 

Furness, Horace Howard, 99, 104, 106 
furnish thee, 105 

gaberdine, 111 
gaged, 103 
gaping pig, 134 
garnish, 120 
garnished like him, 132 
gate, 124, 131 
gear, 103 
Genoa, 125 

Gentile and no Jew, 120 
glisters, 121 
gloves, 138 

God bless the mark, 114 
God sort all, 143 
gondola, 122 
goodly, 110 
Goodwins, 124 
gormandise, 118 
Gower, John, 140 
gramercy, 115 
gratify, 138 
gratis, 129 
Greene, Robert, 117 
Groatsworth of Wit, 117 
gross, 110 



INDEX TO NOTES 



149 



grow to, 114 
guarded, 116 
gudgeon, 103 
guiled, 127 

habit, 116, 131 

Hagar's offspring, 119 

hangman's axe, 135 

hasted, 115 

having, scansion, 127 

hazard, 104 

hearsed, 125 

heavens, for the, 114 

her, antecedent of relative, 143 

Heraclitus, 107 

Hercules, 113,126, 127 

Heywood, Thomas, 102 

Higden, Ralph, 121 

high-day, 124 

hip, upon the, 110 

his, genitive of "he," 113 

History of Italic, 129 

History of the Principal Birds, 123 

Holy Cross Day, 111 

holy crosses, 141 

honest-true, 130 

horse, 107 

how, for "as," 127 

how cheer'st thou, 132 

howsome'er, 133 

humbleness, 138 

humor, 100, 134 

Hyrcanian, 121 

I, quasi-independent, 126 

II Pecorone, 105 

impeach, 128 

impugn, 136 

in all sense, 143 ; in choosing wrong, 125 ; 

in, meaning during, 117, 140; with 

verbs of motion, 141 
Indian, 127 
inexecrable, 135 
infection, 115 
insculp'd, 121 
inserted, 110 

inspiration . . . love, 106 
intermission, 128 
Irving, Sir Henry, 111 
it, used indefinitely, 116 
Italian, 107 
iwis, 123 

Jack, 131 

Jacob, 110 ; Jacob's staff, 119 

Janus, 102 

Jason, 104, 128 

Jastrow, M., 112 

Jew of Malta, 137 

Jew's eye, 119 

jewels, 125 

Jowett, Benjamin, 126 

jump, 123 



Jusserand, J. J., 118 
just, 137 i 

Kean, Charles, 99 
Keightley, Thos., 114 
kept, 129 
knapped, 124 

Latin, 107 

laugh like parrots, 102 

lead'st this fashion, 133 

Lee, Sydney, 135 

liberal, 116 

Lichas, 113 

life and living, 143 

Life on the Lagoons, 122 

likely, 124 

line, simple, 116 

Literary History of the English People, 

118 
little candle, 142 
livings, 127 
lodged, 134 
loose, 133 
Lord's Prayer, 136 
losing suit, 134 
love, 137; for my, 112 

mad, 143 

magnificoes, 128 

main flood, 134 

mantle, 103 

maps, 101 

Marlowe, Christopher, 137 

Mars, 127 

martlet, 123 

masque, 117 

master young-man, 114 

matched, 125 

may you stead me ? ' 109 

me, for old dative, 110, 115 

meagre, 127 

mean, 106, 132 

Medea, 140 

merchandise, 125 

merchant, royal, 128 

mere, 128 

meshes, 106 

Mestre, 109 

methought, 110 

Midas, 127 

mind of love, 122 

mistress . . . maid, 128 

mitigate, 136 

moe, 103 

moiety, 133 

Molmenti, Pompeo, 100, 101, 104, 106, 

108,118,131,134,141 
monastery, 130 
Montferrat, 108 
mortifying, 103 
mountain pines, 135 
much, adverb, 143 



150 



INDEX TO NOTES 



music, 141, 142 ; of the spheres, 141 
must, 136 ; denoting futurity, 120 
mutual, 142 
my lord (in sport), 124 - 

narrow seas, 122, 124 
Nash, Thomas, 139 
naughty, 126, 129, 142 
Nazarite, 109 
negative, double, 113] 
Nestor, 102 
nice, 113 

nose a-bleeding, 118 
notary, 112 

object, redundant, 136 

oddly . . . suited, 107 

o'erlooked, 125 

of, local significance, 115; sense of 

"with," 118; with verb of fulness, 

143 ; pardon, 138 
of my trust, or for my sake, 105 
offices, 134 
old, 139 
Orpheus, 142 
ostent, 117 
ostents, 122 
out-night, 140 
overpeer, 101 
Ovid, Golding's trans., 103, 105, 108, 

113, 126, 127, 135, 140, 142 

Padua, 130, 131 

page, 113 ; page's suit, 118 

pageants, 101 

Painter, William, 137 

Palace of Pleasure, 137 

parrots, 102 

part, 122 

parts, 135 

patch, 119 

patines, 141 

pawned, 133 

peasantry, 123 

peize the time, 126 

pent-house, 119 

Phoedo, 126 

Phoebus, 113 

Plato, Phcedo, 126 ; Republic, 141 

plots and purposes, 104 

plucking the grass, 101 

plural, third person in -s, 112 

Plutarch, Lives (North), 104 

Polychronicon, 121 

Pooler, C. K., 109, 117, 122, 125, 137, 

139, 140 
Pope, Alexander, 110 
pork, 109 
port, 103 
possess'd, 110 
prating, 143 
pray thee, 116 
prayer-books, 116 



preferment, 116 

presently, 138 

prest, 104 

prevented, 102 

prize, 127 

prodigal, 119 

proper man's picture, 107 

prophet, 109 

pure innocence, 104 

pursue, 137 

Pythagoras, 135, 141 

quaint, 131 

quaintly, 117 

qualify, 133 

quality, 125 

quarrelling with occasion, 132 

question, 134 

quit, 138 

race, 142 

rack, 126 

racked, 105 

rail the seal, 136 

rain, 127 

raise the waters, 115 

raised, 122 

rated, 111 

ready, 133 

reasoned, 122 

reasons, 103 

recant, 138 

reddest, 113 

Reed, 110 

regreets, 124 

relative omitted, 105 

remorse, 133 

reproach, 118 

respect, 102 

respective, 143 

Rhenish, 108 

rheum, 111 

Rialto,97, 100, 101,102, 131 

rib, 121 

Rich, Barnaby, Aphorismes, 119 

ring, 139 

ripe, 110 

riveted, scansion, 143 

road, 123 

roof, 128 

Rowe, Nicholas, 110 

ruin, 123 

Sabbath, 134 

sand-blind, 114 

saved by my husband, 132 

scanted me,' 113 

scarfed, 119 

scenes of the plav — Venice, a street 
(the Rialto), 3, 14, 22, 29, 38, 45, 
60, 83; before Shvlock's house, 31, 
33; Shylock's house, 28; a Court 
of Justice, 68. 



INDEX TO NOTES 



151 



in Belmont, a room in Portia's house, 

9, 20, 36, 40, 49, 61 ; a garden, 64, 

84 
schedule, 123 
Scott, Sir Walter, 108 
scrubbed, 143 
Scylla, 132 
searched, 127 
self, 104 

self-same flight, 104 
semblance of my soul, 130 
sentences, 106 
sensible, 122 
serve me, 114 
setup my rest, 115 
set you forth, 133 
Shakespeare' s England, 119 
shall, denoting inevitable futurity, 118; 

conveying idea of necessity, 136; 
should, conditional and consequent, 108, 

128 ; denoting compulsion, 120 
shows, 121 
shrewd, 128 
shrine, 121 
Sibylla, 108 
Sidney, Sir Philip, 103 
Sieveking, 119 
signify, 141 
signiors, 101 
simple, 127 
simplicity, 109 
single, 112 
Sir Oracle, 103 
slave, 135 
slubber, 122 
smug, 125 

so, used with subjunctive, 128 
sola, 141 

sole . . . soul, 135 
Soliman and Perseda, 113 
some, 118, 125 
sometimes, 104 
sonties, 115 
soon at supper, 1 17 
Sophy, 113 

soul upon the forfeit, 143 
speak me fair, 137 
sped, 123 

Spsnser, Edmund, 130 
spoils, 142 
staff or prop, 115 
stage, 102 
stained, 111 
stairs of sand, 127 
Stanton, 107 
stay on, 137 
steal, 140 
Stephano, 140 
still, 101, 111 
stockish, 142 
straight, 123 
strained, 136 
strange, 102, 133 



subjunctive, used conditionally, 126; 
in subordinate clause denoting 
purpose, 138, future used for, 138 

substance, 137 

sucking cubs, 113 

sufferance, 111 

suit is cold, 122 

sunny locks, 104 

superfluity, 106 

superlative, borrowed, 129 

surety, 107 

suspect, 112 

swan-like end, 126 

Sykes, F. H., 103 

table, 116 

temple, 113 

tenses, irregular sequence of, 137 

that, conjunctional affix, 128 

the, omitted, 113; used for possessive 
adjective, 129 

Theobald, Lewis, 110, 113 

there, 122 

Thomas, W., 129 

thought, 102 

thrift, 105 

throstle, 107 

through, dissyllable in scansion, 129 

throughly, 136 

time, 103 

to, adverbially used, 116; after "em- 
ploy," 122 

to give, 139 

too unkind, scansion, 143 

torch-bearers, 117 

touches, 141 

Toxophilus, 101 

Trevisa, John, 121 

tricksy word, 132 

Troilus, 140 ; Troilus and Criseyde, 140 

truth, 136 

tucket, 142 

Turks and Tartars, 133 

Turner, 123 

twice blest, 136 

tyranny, 133 

uncapable, 133 

unfurnished, 127 

unpleasant'st, 128 

unthrift, 140 

upon, 135 

upon a knife, 143 

us, representing old dative, 117 

usance, 109 

use, 138 

vailing, 102 

vantage, 128 

varnished faces, 119 

Venice, the city, 99, 100; environs, 109, 
120, 130, 131; magnates of, 128; 
liberty and justice in, 129, 134, 137 
slavery in, 135; music in, 141 



152 



INDEX TO NOTES 



venture, 101 
Venus' pigeons, 119 
very, 128 
via, 114 
vile, 117 
virtue, 143 
visitation, 136 

waste, 130 

wealth, 143 

weeping philosopher, 107 

well to live, 115 

where, 133 

whiles, 108 

who, with inanimate antecedent, 121 

whom, inflection neglected, 120 



willow, 140 
without respect, 142 
wit-snapper, 132 
wolf hanged, 135 
wrest the law, 137 
wrinkles, 103 
wroth, 123 
wry-neck'd fife, 119 
Wylsonon Usurie, 110 

yet (up to this time), 124 
you, formal address, 115, 116 
you shall please, 120 
Young Israel, 112 
younker, 119 



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